••  '•;'      1 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

H-tAOl 


GIFT 


Class 


3  A; 


A  COTERIE  OF  EXCHANGE  OFFICIALS,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 


GEORGE  P.  FIELD,  Pres.,  1885. 
HENRY  E.  HESS,  Pres.,  1887. 
BENJAMIN  R.  STILLMAN,  Pres., 


U.  C.  CROS15Y,  Pres.,  1883-4,  '91. 
MOSES  R.  EMERSON,  Pres.,  1892. 
C.  M.  GODDARD,  Sec.,  1891-3. 


GEORGE  W.  TAYLOR,  Pres.,  1886. 
HENRY  R.  TURNER,  Pres.,  1888. 
FRANK  A.  COLLEY,  Pres.,  1890. 


TENTH  ANNIVERSARY 


New 


Excbai)4e 


HOTEL  VENDOME,  BOSTON,  MASS. 


JANUARY  6,  1893. 


or  THE- 

•  -  , '  / 


THE  STANDARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
BOSTON,  MASS. 


A  r  *          , 

u^u^^^ 


PRESIDENT  : 

C.  B.  FOWLER. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS  : 

E.  C.  BRUSH.          E.  C.  NORTH. 
A.  C.  ADAMS. 

EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE  : 

J.  L.  KENDIG,  Chairman. 
G.  W.  HINKLEY.  J.  J.  DOWNEY. 

C.  L.  WOODSIDE.  G.  HERBERT  IDE. 

SECRETARY  I 

C.  M.  GODDARD. 


TENTH   ANNIVERSARY 

OF    THE 

NEW  ENGLAND  INSURANCE  EXCHANGE, 

January  6,  1893. 


The  tenth  anniversary  of  the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange 
was  celebrated  by  a  banquet  at  Hotel  Vendome,  Boston,  Friday 
evening,  Jan.  6,  1893.  It  was  a  successful  and  auspicious  event, 
being  attended  by  nearly  two  hundred  fire  underwriters,  among 
whom  were  some  of  the  most  prominent  officers  and  managers 
in  the  country. 

The  celebration  began  with  a  reception  at  4  o'clock,  p.  M.,  in 
the  hotel  parlors.  At  6  o'clock  the  members  and  their  guests  re- 
paired to  the  dining  room.  The  tables  were  arranged  in  four 
rows  the  .length  of  the  hall  and  crossed  at  the  top  by  another  at 
which  were  seated  the  principal  guests  of  the  evening,  President 
Emerson  occupying  the  centre.  On  his  right  were  George  L. 
Chase,  president  of  the  Hartford  Fire ;  D.  W.  C.  Skilton,  presi- 
dent of  the  Phoenix  of  Hartford ;  J.  H.  Washburn,  vice-president 
of  the  Home ;  J.  Montgomery  Hare,  manager  of  the  Norwich 
Union,  and  George  P.  Sheldon,  president  of  the  Phenix  of  Brook- 
lyn. On  his  left  were  George  S.  Merrill,  insurance  commissioner 
of  Massachusetts ;  John  C.  Paige  of  Boston ;  Samuel  P.  Blagden, 
manager  of  the  North  British ;  James  F.  Dudley,  secretary  of 
the  JEtna;  Osborn  Howes,  Jr.,  secretary  of  the  Boston  Board, 
and  F.  C.  Moore,  president  of  the  Continental.  The  ends  of  the 
table  were  occupied  by  U.  C.  Crosby,  historian,  and  Amos  Sher- 
man, toastmaster  of  the  occasion. 


6 

Other  guests  and  members  of  the  Exchange  present  were  as 
follows : 

GUESTS. — Robert  B.  Beath,  secretary  National  Board;  C.  L. 
Hedge,  president  New  York  State  association;  S.  B.  Stearns, 
president,  and  S.  C.  Eastman,  secretary,  New  Hampshire  Board 
of  Underwriters ;  C.  M.  Goddard,  secretary  New  England  Insur- 
ance Exchange ;  O.  P.  Clark,  ex-secretary  New  England  Insur- 
ance Exchange ;  Charles  W.  Whitcomb,  fire  marshal,  Boston ; 
C.  M.  Ransom  of  THE  STANDARD  ;  H.  R.  Hayden  of  the  Weekly 
Underwriter ;  Charles  C.  Little,  secretary,  J.  W.  Barley,  gen- 
eral agent,  and  Everett  U.  Crosby,  manager  sprinkler  depart- 
ment, Phenix  of  Brooklyn ;  T.  Y.  Brown  of  New  York ;  J.  J. 
Cornish,  special  agent  Home ;  Thomas  F.  Goodrich,  vice-presi- 
dent Niagara  Fire  ;  George  Wensley,  superintendent  of  agencies 
Norwich  Union;  Henry  C.  Short,  secretary  Fireman's  Fire,  Bos- 
ton; Charles  E.  Chase,  assistant  secretary  Hartford  Fire:  J.  A. 
Macdonald,  president  Queen;  William  B.  Clark,  president 
JEtna;  W.  W.  Underbill,  president  United  States  Fire;  M.  A. 
Stone,  president,  and  C.  D.  Barton,  general  agent,  Greenwich; 
A.  J.  Wright,  president  Springfield  F.  &  M. ;  Benjamin  J. 
Ackerman,  manager  State  Investment  &  Insurance  Company  of 
San  Francisco;  C.  H.  Waite,  general  agent,  and  George  E. 
Brewer,  superintendent  of  agencies,  Sun  Insurance  Office  ,  Frank 
Jones,  president,  A.  F.  Howard,  secretary,  Granite  State ;  Francis 
Peabody,  president  American  of  Boston;  George  A.  Park, 
secretary,  and  Charles  S.  Park,  assistant  secretary.  First  National ; 
J.  C.  French,  secretary,  and  G.  Byron  Chandler,  treasurer, 
New  Hampshire  Fire;  W.  T.  Barton,  president  Merchants1, 
Providence ;  F.  O.  Affeld,  manager  Hamburg  Bremen ;  J. 
McCord,  assistant  general  agent  Hanover;  J.  L.  Caven,  vice- 
president  United  Fireman's  ;  James  Nichols,  president  National 
Fire ;  George  W.  Hoyt,  assistant  manager  of  the  Liverpool 
&  London  &  Globe ;  Thomas  L.  Churchill,  chief  inspector  New 
England  Bureau  of  United  Inspection ;  H.  E.  Russell,  local  agent, 
Boston. 

MEMBERS. — A.  C.  Adams,  A.  C.  Anthony,  G.  H.  Allen,  Henry 
N.  Baker,  S.  S.  Banks,  N.  S.  Bartow,  H.  S.  Bean,  A.  L.  Berry, 
George  B.  Bod  well,  W.  A.  R.  Boothby,  W.  H.  Boutell,  J.  H. 
Burger,  A.  S.  Burrington,  M.  R.  Buxton,  Frederick  B.  Carpenter, 
O.  B.  Chadwick,  Arthur  A.  Clarke,  S.  B.  Clarke,  J.  B.  Cornish, 
E.  B.  Cowles,  W.  F.  Dearborn,  Jr.,  D.  J.  DeCamp,  Thomas  H. 
Dooley,  J.  J.  Downey,  J.  D-  Eaton,  W.  L.  Fay,  W.  G.  Fitch, 
H.  V.  Freeman,  James  M.  Forbush,  C.  B.  Fowler,  G.  A.  Furness, 


A.  B.  Gillette,  William  R.  Gray,  J.  F.  Hastings,  A.  T.  Hatch, 
George  W.  Hinkley,  H.  L.  Hiscock,  J.  Edward  Hollis,  Samuel 
G.  Howe,  G.  Herbert  Ide,  Henry  J.  Ide,  G.  R.  Kearley,  C.  W. 
Kellogg,  George  E.  Kendall,  J.  L.  Kendig,  Henry  A.  Knabe, 
James  H.  Leighton,  George  E.  Macomber,  Charles  E.  Macullar, 
N.  A.  McNeil,  George  Neiley,  E.  C.  North,  Thomas  L.  OBrion, 
Charles  D.  Palmer,  F.  D.  Parsons,  S.  G.  Parsons,  Daniel  Pren- 
tice, S.  B.  Reed,  J.  J.  Reid,  C.  H.  Rice,  W.  F.  Rice,  Fred  Sam- 
son, Frank  W.  Sargent,  Albert  W.  Sewall,  George  Shaw,  George 
L.  Shepley,  C.  F.  Simmons,  A.  K.  Simpson,  A.  K.  Slade,  Jr., 
Charles  M.  Slocum,  W.  H.  Smith,  H.  H.  Soule,  F.  H.  Stevens, 
C.  E.  Stickney,  R.  James  Tatman,  George  W.  Taylor,  W.  T. 
Teale,  James  E.  Tillinghast,  G.  K.  Tinker,  Henry  R.  Turner, 
E.  L.  Watson,  F.  A.  Wetherbee,  H.  S.  Wheelock.  Henry  F. 
Whitney,  B.  B.  Whittemore,  C.  H-  Wilkins,  H.  P.  Wood,  Silas 
P.  Wood,  A.  L.  Frisby,  W.  B.  McCray,  William  H.  Hellyar,  F, 
T.  Noble. 

HONORARY  MEMBERS.— C.  G.  Smith,  manager  Factory  Insur- 
ance Association  >of  Hartford ;  George  P.  Field,  manager  Royal 
and  Pennsylvania,  Boston;  Curtis  Clark,  insurance,  Boston; 
C.  E.  Galacar,  vice-president  Phoenix.  Hartford ;  E.  G.  Richards, 
secretary,  and  B.  R.  Stillman,  assistant  secretary,  National, 
Hartford;  J.  C.  Hilliard ;  F.  A.  Colley,  superintendent  of 
agencies,  London  &  Lancashire;  G.  O.  Carpenter,  insurance, 
Boston;  A.  H.  Wray,  assistant  manager  Commercial  Union; 
Samuel  J.  Whyte,  general  agent  Springfield  F.  &  M. 

The  following  is  a  full  stenographic  report  of  the  after-dinner 
exercises : 

Mr.  Emerson — I  need  not  say  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  the 
meaning  and  significance  of  this  gathering  is  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  tenth  anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the  New 
England  Insurance  Exchange  ;  but  I  must  not  forget  to  remind 
you,  as  we  sit  around  this  festive  board,  that  *«  not  only  to  feast- 
f  ul  mirth  is  this  white  hour  assigned,  but  also  to  sweet  discourse — 
the  banquet  of  the  mind."  It  is  with  sincere  pleasure  that  I 
extend  to  you  all  fraternal  greetings,  and  on  behalf  of  the  Ex- 
change, especial  cordial  welcome  to  you,  our  invited  guests. 
We  gratefully  recognize  that  in  honoring  us  by  your  presence 
on  this  occasion,  you  show  your  approval  of  what  we  have  done 
in  the  past  and  encourage  us  to  go  forward  with  renewed  energy 
and  devotion  to  the  principles  of  our  association  towards  the  com- 


plete  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  for  which  the  Exchange 
was  founded.  It  is  not  my  purpose  at  this  time  to  refer  to  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  organization  of  our  association,  nor  to 
enlarge  upon  the  work  which  we  have  done  during  the  pest  ten 
years  in  promoting  the  common  interests  of  fire  insurance  in 
New  England.  This  duty  has  been  assigned  to  our  honored  first 
president,  and  I  am  most  happy  to  introduce  our  historian,  Air. 
U.  C.  Crosby. 

ADDEESS  OP  U.  0,  CKOSBY, 


Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen:  The  record  of  ten  years  in  any 
line  of  business  is  interesting  and  instructive.  The  last  decade 
has  been  marked  by  special  and  most  wonderful  advance,  and 
the  profession  of  underwriting  has  not  been  an  exception. 

The  fire  insurance  business  in  New  England  during  the  years 
1881,  1882,  and  1883  was  in  a  demoralized  condition,  and  out- 
side the  territory  the  situation  was  little  better.  Each  company 
acted  independently  of  the  others  on  nearly  every  question.  Sus- 
picion of  trickery  was  rife.  If  the  special  agent  of  a  company 
was  known  to  visit  a  local  agent  or  a  risk,  other  specials  imme- 
diately followed  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  purpose  of  the 
first.  The  assured  put  up  their  insurance  at  auction  ;  advertised 
for  sealed  bids  for  the  lowest  rate  or  premium.  The  cost  of  in- 
surance received  practically  no  consideration;  in  fact,  was  an 
unknown  quantity.  There  was  a  mad  rush  for  business  on  the 
part  of  local  and  special  agents,  and  the  last  man  on  the  ground 
usually  captured  the  risk.  All  manner  of  schemes  to  secure 
business  were  considered  and  practiced,  with  no  concert  of  action 
on  the  part  of  the  companies  and  with  no  attempt  at  improve- 
ment or  consideration  of  general  principles  of  underwriting. 
With  the  feelings  of  distrust  and  jealousy  entertained  by  each 
company,  the  conditions  were  such  as  to  arouse  on  the  part  of 
underwriters  great  anxiety  and  gloomy  forebodings,  and  give  to 
the  assured  a  sense  of  insecurity  and  hearty  contempt  for  our 
business  methods.  Today  every  agent  in  New  England  has 


joined  hands  with  his  associates  in  the  consideration  and  proper 
conduct  of  the  insurance  business.  Every  risk  is  rated  and  on  a 
fairly  uniform  basis.  Practical  questions  of  underwriting  are 
considered  and  put  into  operation.  Our  companies  act  together 
in  investigating  hazards,  in  methods  of  improvement,  and  the 
inspection  of  risks.  Now  in  place  of  distrust,  pronounced 
demoralization,  and  disintegrating  conditions,  a  general  feeling 
of  friendliness,  confidence,  and  respect  exists  between  our  com- 
panies, agents,  and  the  insuring  public.  Shall  we  seek  for  the 
leading  factor  in  this  change  ? 

In  December,  1882,  a  little  company  of  field  men  met  in  an 
office  on  Congress  street  to  consider  special  danger  in  a  certain 
locality.  Their  success  prompted  the  idea  that  such  an  associa- 
tion might  be  made  permanent.  A  committee  was  appointed  to 
consider  the  matter  and,  acting  on  their  report,  Jan.  6,  1883, 
just  ten  years  ago  today,  came  into  existence  the  moving  spirit 
in  the  transformation — the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange. 
It  will  be  the  duty  of  your  historian  to  name  the  personnel  of  the 
Exchange,  to  briefly  outline  its  principles  of  operation,  the 
nature  of  its  work,  its  methods  and  general  results. 

The  Exchange  was  organized  with  a  membership  of 36 

Joined  since  181 

217 

Loss  by  death 13 

Retired  entirely  from  insurance  business  or  transferred  to 

other  fields  or  departments 52 

Promoted  to  the  official  staff  of  our  companies 18 

83 

Leaving  our  present  membership 134 

Membership  is  confined  to  persons  regularly  engaged  in  or 
having  charge  of  the  New  England  field  work  of  any  fire  insur- 
ance company  and  is  entirely  personal.  Its  object  is  the 
systematic  interchange  of  information  and  co-operation  among 
field  men. 

The  Exchange   has   taken   in  charge  and  rated,  mostly   by 
schedule,  the  following  classes  of  property : 
Boot  and  shoe  factories. 
Cotton  and  woolen  mills. 


10 

Electric  light  stations. 

Paper,  pulp,  and  leather-board  mills. 

Summer  hotels. 

Risks  protected  by  automatic  sprinklers. 

Each  class  is  in  charge  of  a  committee.  Risks  are  rated  by 
personal  examination  and  schedule  applied  in  which  charges  are 
made  for  the  defects  and  credit  given  for  improvements,  and 
each  class  published  in  a  separate  book.  This  system  of  rating 
gives  uniform  consideration,  encourages  improvements,  and  has 
proved  satisfactory  to  all  parties  interested. 

The  number  of  risks  rated  and  published  in  each  tariff: 

Boot  and  shoe  factories 1,671 

Cotton  and  woolen  mills 778 

Electric  light  stations 200 

Paper,  pulp,  and  leather-board  mills 219 

Summer  hotels 561 

Manufacturing   risks    examined  and    under  jurisdiction  of  the 

factory  improvement  committee 1.159 

4,588 

All  property  not  included  in  the  above  ratings,  but  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Exchange,  is  rated  through  the  medium  of 
local  board  organizations,  except  in  a  few  cases  where  agents 
are  so  located  that  a  local  board  could  not  be  formed,  in  which 
case  rates  are  made  and  published  by  the  committee.  Each  local 
board  is  under  the  direct  supervision  of  a  standing  committee  of 
the  Exchange,  selected  on  the  principle  that  each  agency  shall 
have  a  representative  on  the  committee.  Number  of  local 
boards  under  Exchange  committees  one  hundred  and  nineteen 
(119). 

The  value,  importance,  and  magnitude  of  the  interests 
entrusted  to- our  care  is  shown  by  the  following  table — giving 
the  amount  written,  premiums  collected,  losses  paid,  percentage 
of  loss  to  amount  insured  and  to  premium  by  stock  companies  in 
each  of  the  New  England  States  for  the  ten  years  covering  the 
period  of  the  Exchange  existence — the  year  1892  being  an  esti- 
mate, and  for  the  purpose  of  comparison  the  three  years  subse- 
quent to  the  organization  of  the  Exchange  being  given  : 


11 


Maine  .  .  . 
N.  H.... 
Vermont 
Mass  
R  I  .... 

Risks 
Written. 

$05,920,755 
39,674,581 

1880. 

Premiums       Average 
Received.            Rate. 

$760,396      .0115 
481.221       .0121 
238,055 
4,158,751      .0084 
535,908      .0093 
1,242,395      .0095 

Losses 
Incurred. 

$473,459 
278,261 
119,270 
2,638,806 
158,132 
516,693 

$4,184,621 

$555,546 
376,145 
159,911 

2,498,207 
265.658 
630,556 

Percentage  of 
Losses  Incurred 
to 
Risks.  Premiums. 

0.71      62,29 
0.70      57.85 
....  50.11 
0.53      63.58 
0.27      29.50 
0.47      42.48 

493,854,496 
57,177,271 
130,111,556 

Cou  n.... 
Totals  . 

Maine  ... 
N.  H.... 
Vermont 
Mass.... 
R.I  
Conn  .... 

Totals  . 

Maine... 
N.H  
Vermont 
Mass.  .  .  . 
R   I  .... 

$786,738,659 

$67,217,625 
41,296,823 

$7,416,726 
1881. 
$774,256 
501,404 
284,767 
4,450,426 
561,130 
1,366,074 

.0091 

.0115 
.0121 

.0086 
.0091 
.0093 

0.53 

0.82 
0.91 

o!48 
0.43 
0.42 

0.53 

0.90 
0.85 
0.99 
0.77 
0.60 
.067 

56.42 

71.76 
75.07 
55.43 
56.14 
47.34 
46.36 

516,098,999 
61,537,859 
147,257,456 

$833,408,762 

$71,213.277 
42,403,451 
24,047,740 
548,641  ,643 
62,697,262 
148,913,978 

$7,938,057 
1882 
$851,681 
526,738 
295,641 
4,701,185 
579,360 
1,364,583 

.0091 

.0119 
.0124 
.0122 
.0086 
.0092 
.0091 

$4,486,023 

$643,780 
360,823 
238,315 
4,271,692 
376,789 
971,239 

56.50 

75.64 

68.59 
80.62 
90.88 
65.04 
71.41 

Conn.... 
Totals. 

Maine  .  .  . 
N  H 

$897,917,351 

$204,351,657 
123,374,855 
24,047,740 
1,558,595.138 
181  ,412,392 
426,282,990 

$8,319,188      .0092 
TOTALS  1880—1882. 
$2.386,333      .0111 
1,509,363      .0122 
818,463      .0122 
13,310.362      .0086 
1,676,398      .0092 
3,973,052      .0093 

$6,862,638 

$1,672,785 
1,015,229 
517,496 
9.408.705 
800,579 
2,118,488 

0.76 

0.82 
0.82 
0-99 
0.85 
0.44 
0.49 

82.49 

70.09 
67.26 
63.23 

70.68 
47.75 
53.57 

Vermont. 
Mass  .... 
R.I  
Conn  .... 

Totals. 

Maine  .  .  . 
N.H.... 
Vermont 
Mass.  .  .  . 
R.  I  
Conn..  .  . 

Totals. 

Maine  .  .  . 
N.  H.  ... 
Vermont 
Mass..  .. 
R.I  
Conn.... 

$2,518,064,772 

$75.965,994 
43,850,997 
24,903.384 
555,758,070 
61,554,324 
158,654,833 

$23,673,971 

1883. 
$957,581 
554,035 
317,365 
5,249,660 
627,659 
1,530,138 

.0091 

.0126 
.0126 
.0128 
.0094 
.0102 
.0091 

$15,533,282 

$599,741 
349,931 
320,827 
3,166,754 
366,664 
1,037,596 

$5,841,513 

$749,864 
307,597 
197,401 
3.289,001 
309,140 
669,832 

0.60 

0.79 
0.79 
1.28 
0.57 
0.59 
0.65 

65.61 

62.14 
63.16 
101.11 
60.43 

58.42 
67.81 

$920,687,602 

$72.752.045 
44,108,452 
25,634,193 
500,057,935 
57,846,396 
149,880,256 

$9,236,474 
1884. 
$988,452 
608,735 
340,735 
5,398,417 
646,029 
1,582,534 

.0100 

.0135 
.0138 
.0132 
.0107 
.0111 
.0105 

0.63 

1.03 
0.69 
0.77 
0.65 
0.53 
0.44 

63.25 

75.89 
50.58 
57.93 
61.13 
47.85 
42.30 

Totals.        $850,279,277      $9,564,902       .0112      $5,522,835      0.64      57.95 


12 


Maine... 
N.  H  
Vermont. 
Mass.  ... 

R    I    

$89,198,931 
10,836.054 
24,077.082 
495,062,977 
59  219  600 

1885. 
$997,83:2 
132,060 
343,777 
5,579,738 
680  222 

.0147 
.0122 
.0142 
.0112 
0116 

$516,750 
46,697 
156,124 
2,641,665 
4>29  503 

0.74 
0.43 
0.65 
0.53 

0  38 

51.82 
35.37 
45.42 
47.42 

33  74 

Conn.... 

152,861,411 

1,645,326 

.0107 

922,658 

0.60 

56.25 

Totals. 

Maine  ... 
N.  H.  ... 
Vermont 

Mass.  .  .  . 

R.  I  

$311,256,055 

$79,056,037 
42,685,622 
26,471,112 
519,840,650 
63  010  528 

$9,378,955 
18S6. 
$1,094,350 
547,256 
357,889 
5,886,521 
713  314 

.0118 

.0138 
.0128 
.0135 
.0113 
0113 

$4,513,397 

$1,183,391 
106,792 
195,512 
2,677,661 
171,926 

0.55 

1.49 

0.35 
0.73 
0.51 

0  27 

48.23 

108.56 
19.52 
54.64 
45.53 
24  10 

Conn.... 

162,114,280 

1,729,314 

.0106 

720,067 

0.45 

41.86 

Totals. 

Maine... 
N.  II.  .  .  . 
Vermont 
Mass.... 
R  I  

$893,178,229 

$83,241,416 
54,907.446 
28,589,845 
573,023,604 
66,015  089 

$10,328,644 
1887. 
$1,143,901 
698,699 
381,250 
6,205,626 
720  928 

.0115 

.0137 
.0127 
.0133 
.0108 
0109 

$5,055,349 

$654,054 
400,011 
216,135 
2.657,562 
311  620 

0.56 

0.78 
0.72 
0.76 
0.46 
0  47 

48.94 

57.37 
57.30 
56.69 
42.93 
43  22 

Conn.... 

167,182,877 

1,742,677 

.0104 

858,496 

0.51 

59.90 

Totals. 

Maine... 
N.  H.  ... 
Vermont 
Mass.... 
R.I  
Conn.... 

$972,960,277 

$80,701,943 
60,810,198 
39,113,015 
627,167,983 
68,827.343 
174,445.556 

$10,893,081 
1888. 
$1,130,704 
744,190 
577,486 
6,394,645 
759,503 
1,771,757 

.0112 

.0140 
.0122 
.0147 
.0101 
.0113 
.0101 

$5,097,878 

$539,092 
259,848 
465,461 
3,781,151 
759,740 
837,566 

0.52 

0.66 
0.42 
1.19 
0.60 
1.13 
0.48 

46.79 

47.70 
34.90 
80.60 
59.20 
100.00 
47.20 

Totals. 

Maine  .  .  . 
N.  H.  .  .  . 
Vermont 

Mass.... 

R.  I  

$1,051,066,038 

$89,140,620 
70,997,576 
42,412.460 
618,513,881 
70  914  144 

$11,378,285 
1889. 
$1,198,570 
845,949 
632,347 
6,261  ,100 
759  873 

.0108 

.0134 
0.119 
.0149 
.0101 
0106 

$6,642,858 

$559,411 
312,581 
492,063 
8,527,354 
240  762 

0.63 

0.62 
0.44 
1.16 
1.37 
0  33 

58.38 

46.60 
36.90 
77.80 
136.10 
31  60 

Conn.... 

184,002,882 

1,792,085 

.0097 

754,495 

0.41 

42.10 

Totals. 

Maine  ... 
N.  H.  ... 
Vermont 
Mass  .... 
R.I  
Conn  

$1,075,981,563 

$92,836,769 
65,284,994 
32,010,421 

660,894,785 
80,194.968 
189,562,237 

$11,489,924 
1890. 
$1,260,714 
790,277 
432,486 
6,729,961 
797,705 
1,831,195 

.0107 

.0135 
.0121 
.0135 
.0101 
.0099 
.0096 

$10,886,766 

$726,781 
319,336 
170,247 
4,303,444 
429,351 
808,533 

1.01 

0.78 
0.49 
0.53 
0.65 
0.53 
0.42 

94.75 

57.60 
40.40 
39.40 
63.90 
53.80 
44.20 

Totals.    $1,120,784,174    $11,842,338      .0105      $6,757,692      0.60      57.06 


13 


Maine... 
N.  H.... 
Vermont 

Mass 

R.  I 

Conn.... 

Totals. 


Maine... 
N.  H.... 
Vermont 

Mass 

R.I 

Conn.... 

Totals. 


Maine... 
N.  H.... 
Vermont 
Mass.... 

R.  I 

Conn.... 

Totals. 


Maine... 
N.  H.... 
Vermont 
Mass.... 

R.I 

Conn.... 


$92,841,159 
68,560,147 
36.038.277 

648.573,843 
91,825,443 

195,234,620 


1891. 

$1.248.815 

818,937 

474,437 

6,375.850 

844,259 

1,839,174 


.0134 
.0119 
.0128 
.0098 
.0092 
.0094 


$785,822 
307,267 
522,330 

3.774,535 
'591.304 
705,628 


$1,133,973,489    $11,601,472      .0102      $6,686,886 

1883  TO  1887  INCLUSIVE. 
$380,214,423      $5,172,116      .0136      $3,703.800 


196,388.571 
129,675.616 
2,643,743,236 
307,645.937 
790,693,657 

2,540,785 
1,741,016 
28,329,962 

3,388,188 
8.229,989 

.0129 
.0135 
.0107 
.01101 
.0104 

1,211,028 

1,085.999 
14,432,643 

1,388,853 
4,208,649 

$4,448,361,440 

$355,520,491 
265,652,915 
150,474,173 
2,555.150.492 
311,761,989 
743,245,295 

$49,402,056 
1888  TO  1891 
$4,838,803 
3,199,353 
2,116,756 
25,761,556 
3,161,340 
7,234.211 

.0111    $26,030,072 
INCLUSIVE. 
.0136      $2,611,106 
.01204       1,199,132 
.0140        1,650,101 
.0101       20.386,484 
.0101        2,021,157 
.0098        3,106,222 

$4,381,805,264    $46,312,019      .0106    $30,974,202 

1883  TO  1891  INCLUSIVE. 
$735,734,914    $10,010.919      .0136      $6,314,906 


462,041,486 
280,149.789 

5,198,893.728 
619,407,835 

1,533,938,952 


5,740,138 
3,857,772 

54,091,518 
6,449,528 

15,464,200 


.0125 
.0138 
.0104 
.0105 
.0101 


2,410,160 
2,736,100 
34,819,127 
3,410.010 
7,314,871 


0.84  62.90 

0.44  37.50 

1.41  110.70 

0.58  59.20 

0.64  69.60 

0.36  38.30 


0.97 
0.61 
0.83 
0.54 
0.45 
0.53 


0.85 
0.53 
0.96 
0.66 
0.56 
0.47 


0.58      57.65 


71.61 
47.66 
62.31 
50.94 
40.99 
51.13 


0.58      52.67 


0.72  53.96 

0.45  37.48 

1.09  73.23 

0.79  79.13 

0.65  63.96 

0.41  44.94 


0.70      66.40 


52.78 
42.57 
67.77 
65.04 
52.47 
48.04 


Totals.     $8,830,166,704    $95,714,075      .0108    $57,005,174      0.64      59.54 

Estimated  premium  for  1892 $10,634,897 

Estimated  loss  for  1892 6,333,908 

Total  premium  income  for  ten  years, 106,348.972 

Total  premium  loss  for  ten  years 63,339,082 

Under  the  management  of  the  Exchange  rates  on  certain  un- 
profitable classes  have  been  advanced,  improvement  in  construc- 
tion and  protection  encouraged  by  reduction  in  rates,  and  the 
whole  field  re-adjusted  on  a  basis  giving  our  companies  in  ten 
years,  in  addition  to  new  business,  a  net  increase  in  premium 
income  in  our  field  of  $16,679,000.  Estimating  the  expense  of 
doing  business  in  New  England  at  35  per  cent,  a  fair  average, 
the  record  for  three  years  directly  preceding  the  organization  of 


14 

the  Exchange  shows  an  actual  loss  to  our  companies,  and  for  the 
ten  years  following  an  underwriting  profit  of  5.45  per  cent.  We 
have  met  the  deficiencies  of  previous  years,  the  1891  conflagra- 
tions in  Boston  and  Lynn,  and  transferred  to  the  profit  account 
an  amount  which  our  conservative  underwriters  consider 
moderate  and  the  most  captious  critic  must  admit  to  be  the 
smallest  margin  consistent  with  safety  and  security  to  the  policy- 
holder. 

The  practical  features  of  its  work  are  indicated  by  the  organi- 
zation of  and  care  and  supervision  over  119  local  boards,  the 
personal  examination  and  rating  by  schedule  of  4,027  manufac- 
turing establishments,  and  561  summer  hotels.  It  has  been  the 
guiding  and  controlling  power  responsible  for  rates  which  have 
made  possible  the  collection  of  $106,000,000  in  premiums,  and 
indirectly  has  aided  in  the  proper  distribution  of  $63,000,000  to 
the  assured.  This  work  has  been  accomplished  with  such  good 
judgment  and  discretion  as  to  generally  command  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  our  agents  and  the  public.  Differences  of  opinion 
and  misunderstandings  have  occurred  and  occasional  violations 
of  the  rules  and  rates,  but  they  have  been  slight  and  do  not 
appear  as  a  factor. 

We  have  made  mistakes ;  we  have  had  dark  days  when  clouds 
heavily  charged  with  elements  of  dissension  and  disintegration 
seemed  to  hang  over  us,  threatening  our  very  existence ;  yet  in 
every  case  the  practical  good  sense  and  sterling  qualities  of  our 
members  have  come  to  the  rescue.  The  menacing  cloud  has 
been  swept  away  and  the  sky  appeared  brighter  and  clearer  than 
before.  Every  year  has  shown  an  advanced  position  on  many 
questions  and  the  yearly  milestone  indicates  a  forward  move- 
ment. 

There  is  not  a  non-board  agency  in  our  field  or  a  stock  com- 
pany doing  business  in  violation  of  the  rules  and  rates,  a  record 
unparalled  in  the  history  of  like  organizations,  and  of  which  we 
may  be  justly  proud. 

Among  the  underlying  causes  contributing  to  the  success  of  the 
Exchange,  the  following  should  be  especially  noted : 


15 

First.  Tiie  principle  noted  in  our  constitution. — "  It  is  not  the 
purpose  or  the  desire  of  the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange 
to  attempt  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  the  prerogatives  of  the 
executive  officers  of  the  companies  or  any  organization  of  which 
they  may  be  members."  Each  member  of  the  Exchange  has 
duties  assigned  and  authority  delegated  to  him  by  his  company. 
In  its  work  and  operations  it  has  been  clearl}r  the  wish  and  in- 
tention of  the  Exchange  to  keep  strictly  within  the  limit  of  power 
and  authority  thus  delegated  to  its  members.  To  this  underlying 
principle  is  largely  due  the  hearty  support  given  by  our  com- 
panies. 

Second.  The  co-operation  and  confidence  of  our  local  agents. 
—  From  the  first  it  was  the  governing  principle  and  rule  of  the 
Exchange  to  obtain  the  support  and  assistance  of  our  agents  in 
the  making  of  rates  and  in  the  general  conduct  of  local  agency 
business.  The  right  to  dictate  to  local  boards  and  to  make  rates 
independent  of  them  has  always  been  admitted — we  have  so 
rated  schedule  and  sprinkled  risks — but  outside  of  these  the 
power  has  b§en  exercised  only  in  rare  cases.  The  Exchange 
local  committees  have  in  general  performed  their  work  with 
good  judgment  and  discretion,  and  the  local  agents  have  been 
made  to  feel  that  they  are  an  important  factor,  and  they  have 
worked  with  us,  not  as  subordinates,  but  as  associates  and  co- 
laborers.  They  are  our  friends  today  and  with  hardly  an  excep- 
tion are  hearty  supporters  of  local  boards  and  of  the  New 
England  Insurance  Exchange. 

Third.  The  self-reliance  of  our  members. — The  members  of 
the  Exchange  have  attended  to  their  duties  and  have  not  referred 
perplexing  questions  to  the  home  office.  With  a  knowledge  of 
the  general  policy  of  their  companies,  a  proper  understanding 
of  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  details  delegated  to  them,  they 
have  made  a  study  of  the  ever  changing  and  varying  conditions, 
and  within  the  lines  laid  down  have  assumed  responsibility. 
The  work  accomplished  is  not  the  result  of  the  special  ability  of 
a  few,  but  of  the  united  action  of  an  association  of  field  men  in 
thorough  touch  with  their  agents,  and  with  an  intimate  knowl- 


16 

edge  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  business  in  different  localities, 
and  of  the  whims  and  prejudices  of  their  agents  and  the  assured. 
If  we  had  wandered  far  into  forbidden  fields  and  encroached  on 
the  prerogatives  of  our  companies,  we  should  have  heard  from 
them,  and  with  no  uncertain  sound.  The  fact  that  they  have 
given  us  their  hearty  support  indicates  that  we  have  produced 
what  they  desire — good  results. 

Fourth.  The  honcr  and  good  faith  of  our  members. — This  is 
the  foundation  on  which  the  Exchange  is  builded ;  destroy  it  and 
the  whole  superstructure  will  fall.  Members  of  the  Exchange 
believe  in  the  honor  and  integrity  of  their  associates.  If  this 
was  not  true  we  should  not  be  here  tonight  celebrating  ten  years 
of  uninterrupted  prosperity. 

Fifth.  Freedom  from  non-board  competition. — The  Exchange 
has  acted  on  the  underlying  principle  that  « •  a  chain  is  not 
stronger  than  its  weakest  link ;  "  that  we  would  give  everyone 
an  interest  and  a  part  in  the  work ;  the  weakest  a  hearing,  that 
we  would  act  for  the  interest  of  all,  but  that  we  would  not  have 
non-board  competition.  Three  or  four  attempts  have  been 
made  to  establish  non-board  agencies,  but  a  straight-forward, 
manly  protest  and  personal  presentation  of  the  situation  to  the 
parties  interested  resulted  in  removing  the  difficulties  and 
closing  the  agencies.  Had  we  not  succeeded  prompt  dissolution 
of  the  Exchange  would  have  been  the  result.  We  promised  our 
agents  that  if  they  would  unite  with  us  in  the  consideration  and 
making  of  rates  and  in  the  proper  conduct  of  our  business,  we 
would  give  them  protection.  How  well  we  have  kept  our 
promise  the  record  will  show.  This  principle  might  seem  to 
indicate  an  element  of  weakness ;  it  has  proved  a  tower  of 
strength.  Without  this  vital  and  unwritten  law  we  could  not 

O 

present  tonight  a  field  free  from  this  competition. 

Your  historian  would  gladly  linger  to  indulge  in  personal 
reminiscences.  He  would  like  to  mention  the  work  of  com- 
mittees and  of  members ;  would  like  to  mention  by  name  the 
secretaries  of  the  Exchange,  men  of  special  ability  and  fitness 
for  their  position,  and  to  whom  we  owe  much  of  our  success ; 


17 

would  like  to  give  the  names  of  members  who  have  graduated 
into  high  official  positions,  members  of  whom  we  may  well  be 
proud — but  time  will  not  permit.  We  will  only  pause  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  practical  judgment  characterizing  the  deliberations 
of  the  Exchange  and  the  work  of  its  committees ;  the  honor, 
integrity,  and  manly  qualities  of  its  members,  and  the  strict 
fidelity  with  which  they,  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  have  worked 
and  cared  for  the  interests  of  their  companies. 

The  history  of  the  Exchange  would  not  be  complete  witnout 
mention  of  two  organizations  closely  allied  with  and  virtually  a 
part  of  us :  the  Insurance  Library  Association  and  the  J^ew  Eng- 
land Bureau  of  United  Inspection.  The  Insurance  Library 
Association  was  incorporated  under  Massachusetts  laws  for 
educational,  historical,  scientific,  and  social  purposes  connected 
with  or  relating  to  fire  and  marine  insurance.  The  membership 
is  limited  to  Exchange  members  and  representatives  of  com- 
panies contributing  to  its  fund.  Its  success  is  largely  due  to  the 
earnest  work  of  a  member  and  former  president  of  the  Ex- 
change. It  has  already  accumulated  a  large  library  of  legal 
and  statistical  works ;  also  maps  and  surveys  arranged  in  con- 
venient form  for  ready  reference,  and  in  pleasant  rooms  open 
during  business  hours  and  free  to  members  and  visitors.  It  is 
one  of  the  best  of  its  kind  in  this  country  and  its  value  to  under- 
writers will  continue  to  increase. 

The  Bureau  of  United  Inspection  was  brought  into  existence 
through  the  medium  of  an  Exchange  committee,  and  while  it  was 
not  deemed  best  to  make  the  bureau  a  part  of  the  Exchange  its 
management  has  always  been  largely  in  the  hands  of  Exchange 
members.  It  has  been  a  success  from  its  start,  in  a  practical 
way  developing  and  working  out  a  principle  of  special  import- 
ance to  underwriters. 

The  part  the  Exchange  has  taken  in  certain  practical  questions 
occupying  the  minds  of  underwriters  at  the  present  time  is 
worthy  of  special  mention :  co-insurance,  united  action  in  the 
inspection  and  protection  of  property,  schedule  rating,  and  the 
relations  of  the  underwriter  to  the  insuring  public. 


18 

CO-INSURANCE. — The  principle  that  rates  should  be  made  on 
the  same  relative  amount  of  insurance  to  value  has  long  been 
considered  by  underwriters,  but  the  Exchange  was  the  first 
organization  to  put  the  principle  into  practical  operation.  In 
1885  a  committee  was  appointed  to  take  the  subject  under  con- 
sideration and  the  companies  were  asked  to  give  their  approval 
to  its  application  in  New  England ;  a  minority  expressed  dis- 
approval and  no  general  action  was  taken,  but  the  principle  was 
gradually  applied  in  special  ri-ks  and  rates  by  a  few  local 
boards.  Interest  was  aroused  by  the  discussion ;  our  companies 
and  organizations  outside  of  our  territory  took  up  the  question 
and  in  many  localities  anticipated  us  in  its  broader  application. 
The  closing  month  of  last  year  was  made  memorable  by  the 
adoption  of  the  co-insurance  principle  and  its  application  on  all 
specifically  rated  risks  within  ««  Exchange  "  jurisdiction,  and  on 
practically  the  same  basis  recommended  in  1885. 

INSPECTIONS. — The  method  generally  adopted  by  our  com- 
panics  for  the  inspection  of  their  business  has  been  subjected  to 
grave  criticism.  The  frequent  examination  of  each  risk  by  the 
special  agent  of  every  company  interested  is  expensive  both  to 
the  companies  and  the  assured.  It  is  an  inspection  which  does 
not  improve  the  risk  and  is  most  exasperating  to  the  owner  of 
large  property.  With  the  increase  in  the  number  of  field  men, 
inspections  increased  and  the  members  of  the  Exchange  were 
quick  to  feel  the  demoralizing  effect  on  the  assured.  Earnest 
consideration  was  given  to  the  subject  and  resulted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  New  England  Bureau  of  United  Inspection.  The 
reform  once  started  extended  to  other  fields  and  the  system  will 
doubtless  continue  to  be  enlarged,  improved,  and  extended 
to  all  classes  of  property. 

SCHEDULE  RATING. — The  Exchange  has  taken  special  inter- 
est in  this  system.  It  was  the  first  to  apply  a  schedule  to  boot 
and  shoe  factories,  hat  factories,  and  .electric  light  stations,  and 
limited  mercantile  schedules  have  been  used  in  rating  certain 
localities.  The  system  of  rating  which  gives  to  each  risk  con- 
sideration on  its  merits,  commends  itself  to  the  judgment  of  all. 


19 

Our  experience  on  this  point  has  been  most  pronounced  and 
emphatic.  We  have  had  the  least  trouble,  in  fact,  no  trouble 
worth  considering  with  rates  based  on  a  schedule.  It  has  made 
clear  the  fact  that  it  is  the  only  basis  on  which  we  can  advance 
rates  or  place  them  on  a  paying  basis  without  a  vigorous  protest 
on  the  part  of  the  assured.  Schedule  rating  will  change  the 
business  of  underwriting  from  a  game  of  chance  to  one  of 
science. 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  UNDERWRITER  TO  THE  INSURING 
PUBLIC. — Insurance  companies  are  to  a  great  extent  public 
institutions.  The  business  interests  of  this  country  are  to  a  lar^e 
measure  dependent  upon  the  security  given  by  fire  insurance. 
It  is  the  duty  of  underwriters  to  study  to  make  the  burden  as 
light  as  possible.  The  Exchange  has  been  a  pronounced  factor 
in  this  work.  It  was  the  first  on  the  part  of  stock  underwriters 
to  make  investigation  into  the  system  of  automatic  sprinkler  pro- 
tection. The  work  in  this  line  has  been  especially  thorough  and 
practical  and  has  received  the  confidence  and  support  of  the 
manufacturers. 

The  work  of  the  Exchange  has  not  been  limited  to  the  making 
of  rates  producing  a  profit  to  our  companies.  It  has  made  a 
study  of  construction,  of  hazards,  of  protection ;  it  has  interested 
the  assured  in  the  improvement  of  his  risk,  has  reduced  the  cost 
of  his  insurance  and  made  him  our  friend;  has  served  the  true 
interests  of  the  insuring  public,  and  it  is  in  this  line  that  the  best 
work  has  been  done.  We  serve  our  companies  best  when  we 
serve  the  public  best. 

The  underwriting  of  the  future  will  consist,  not  in  advancing 
rates,  but  in  making  systematic  and  intelligent  investigation  into 
hazards  and  causes  of  fires  that  they  may,  as  much  as  possible, 
be  eliminated,  and  in  the  scientific  examination  into  the  practical 
application  of  protection.  The  business  of  underwriting  will  be 
made  a  profession  and  conducted  on  a  scientific  basis ;  the  objec- 
tive point  being  a  low  and  diminishing  loss  ratio  and  cost  of 
insurance,  with  a  reasonable  and  more  uniform  balance  of  profit. 
There  has  been  a  tremendous  advance  during  the  last  decade. 


20 

Our  underwriters  are  not  men  to  step  backward ;  they  cannot 
remain  stationary — they  must  move  forward  ;  and  in  the  future, 
when  present  questions  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  have  been 
solved,  when  theories  have  been  exploded  or  become  facts,  it 
will  be  recorded  that  the  original  moving  spirit  in  investigation 
and  reform  was  the  association  whose  tenth  anniversary  we,  this 
day,  celebrate — The  New  England  Insurance  Exchange. 

Mr.  Emerson — It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  announce  the 
next  speaker,  who  I  am  sure  needs  no  words  of  introduction  to  a 
company  like  this — a  man  whom  we  all  know  and  delight  to  honor, 
whose  name  is  a  tower  of  strength  in  all  that  pertains  to  correct 
principles  of  fire  insurance,  and  whose  active  participation  in  the 
business  of  underwriting  antedates  our  anniversary  by  more  than 
four  decades,  Hon.  George  L.  Chase,  president  of  the  Hartford 
Insurance  Company. 

ADDEESS  OP  GEOEGE  L,  CHASE. 


Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen :  I  feel  that  a  little  expla- 
nation is  due  to  those  whom  I  see  before  me  as  to  how  I 
happen  to  be  here  tonight.  Your  eloquent  and  silver-tongued 
president  came  to  Hartford  a  few  weeks  ago,  ostensibly  to  talk 
about  the  co-insurance  clause,  and  came  into  my  office.  I  felt 
that  he  had  something  on  his  mind  that  was  not  expressed  at  the 
beginning,  and  my  anticipations  were  verified  when,  after  talk- 
ing about  the  co-insurance  clause  and  discussing  it  fully,  he  said, 
"The  New  England  Exchange  is  to  have  a  banquet,  and  I  want 
to  extend  an  invitation  to  you  to  attend  it."  I  said,  "  I  am  a  very 
busy  man,  as  you  know,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  I  can  go.-' 
But  finally  I  consented  to  come  down.  Then  he  told  me  that  I 
was  expected  to  make  a  speech.  Then  I  rebelled.  But  in  an 
unfortunate  moment  I  yielded,  and  I  am  here  with  you  tonight. 

His  object  in  bringing  me  here  I  did  not  quite  understand  at  that 
time.  I  understand  now,  from  what  he  has  said,  why  he  brought 
me  here.  It  was  to  show  you  an  old  underwriter,  a  sort  of 
antique,  and  I  think  it  is  quite  possible,  as  I  look  into  the  faces  of 


21 

these  young  men,  who  have  heard  of  me  but  have  never  seen  me 
before,  that  they  may  have  the  feeling  that  an  agent  of  ours  at 
London,  Ontario,  once  had.  In  1868 — Mr.  Coit  was  then  our 
secretary — I  was  called  to  Chicago.  T  went  through  Canada  by 
the  great  western  railway.  Wishing  to  see  our  agent  at  London, 
Mr.  Dempster,  I  telegraphed  him  to  meet  me  at  the  station  on 
the  arrival  of  the  train.  The  train  arrived  there  a  little  sooner 
than  I  expected,  and  I  was  sitting  with  a  little  silk  cap  on  my 
head  and  was  not  looking  like  the  most  dignified  sort  of  man. 
I  stepped  out  on  the  platform  to  look  for  Mr.  Dempster,  but 
found  no  man  looking  for  me.  I  thought  perhaps  the  dispatch 
had  not  reached  him,  which  proved  to  be  the  case.  I  walked 
up  the  platform  and  saw  a  large,  brawny  Scotchman,  who,  it 
seemed  to  me,  must  be  Mr.  Dempster.  Although  I  had  corres- 
ponded with  him  I  had  never  seen  him,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that 
he  must  be  a  man  of  that  type.  Stepping  up  to  him  I  asked, 
» Is  this  Mr.  Dempster  ?"  He  said,  "  Yes."  I  said,  «« I  am  Mr. 
Chase,  the  president  of  the  Hartford."  Said  he  "  Mr.  Coit,  is 
it  ?  "  ««  No,"  said  I,  « <  Mr.  Chase,  the  president  of  the  company." 
"  No,"  said  he,  "  I  think  this  must  be  Mr,  Coit."  "  No,"  said  I, 
"  Mr.  Chase."  "  What,"  said  he,  "  Mr.  Chase,  the  president  of 
the  old  Hartford?"  I  said,  "  Yes,  sir,"  as  meekly  as  I  could. 
"  Well,"  said  he,  "I  thought  the  president  of  the  old  Hartford 
was  an  old  man  with  white  hair  and  white  beard — one  of  these 
men  that  comes  down  to  the  office  in  his  carriage  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning." 

If  I  had  looked  like  my  friend  on  the  left  here  (the  president) 
or  my  friend  Mr.  Hilliard,  I  would  have  answered  the  purpose. 
I  never  filled  the  bill ;  I  never  expect  to.  I  am  not  so  vain  as 
to  have  you  think  that  I  am  not  an  old  man ;  although  we  old 
men  after  we  get  to  be  a  certain  age,  as  my  friend  on  the  left 
(the  president)  can  testify,  do  not  like  to  say  very  much  about 
it.  And  yet,  gentlemen,  old  as  I  am,  I  count  it  one  of  the 
pleasantest  occasions  of  my  life  to  be  here  tonight  and  to  meet 
so  many  gentlemen.  The  president  has  told  you  that  I  have  been 
a  long  time  in  the  business.  I  know  I  have.  I  know  I  am 


giving  myself  away  when  I  tell  you  that  I  have  been  nearly  fifty 
years  in  the  business — over  forty-five  years — but  you  will  excuse 
that.  Mr.  Hilliard  will  set  me  down  as  giving  away  my  age, 
but  I  cannot  help  it.  It  is  a  pleasant  thing  to  be  here.  I  came 
here  expecting  to  find  few  gentlemen  that  I  knew  ;  I  find  scores 
of  them.  And  what  gives  me  greater  pleasure  than  anything 
else  is  to  meet  the  younger  members  of  the  fraternity,  the  men 
who  are  to  fill  my  place  and  the  places  of  the  other  gentlemen 
here  tonight.  And  I  tell  you  I  have  never  seen  an  assemblage 
of  men  in  my  life  that  carried  in  their  faces  such  marks  of  intelli- 
gence, such  readiness  to  grasp  a  subject,  and  such  evidences  of 
diligence  and  enterprise  as  I  see  in  the  countenances  of  these 
men  who  are  to  take  up  this  great  business  and  carry  it  forward 
— one  of  the  greatest  businesses  of  the  country.  The  men  of  the 
New  England  Insurance  Exchange  have  nobly  carried  forward 
this  work. 

Before  I  go  farther  I  want  to  say  how  highly  I  appreciate  the 
work  you  have  done.  Ever  since  your  organization  ten  years 
ago,  it  has  been  our  pleasure  to  co-operate  with  you,  and  we  have 
always  had  our  old  and  honored  representative  with  you,  and  I 
believe  he  has  done  faithful  service.  It  has  been  my  pleasure  to 
be  with  you  as  often  as  I  could  come  from  the  home  office.  The 
outcome  of  the  work  that  has  been  inaugurated  and  carried  on 
by  you  here,  none  of  us  at  this  time  can  tell.  You  have  builded 
better  than  you  know  yourselves,  and  I  believe  that  the  work 
which  you  have  begun  will  be  carried  forward  and  that  a  new 
era  is  about  dawning  upon  the  business  of  underwriting.  We 
are  carrying  on  this  business  more  intelligently  than  it  has  ever 
been  conducted  before ;  and  in  this  field  I  know  that  you  gentle- 
men who  have  this  business  to  carry  on  can  safely  be  trusted. 

I  have  been  set  down  on  the  programme  for  an  address.  It 
comes  home  to  me  very  keenly  that  "  Some  are  born  great,  some 
achieve  greatness,  and  some  have  greatness  thrust  upon  them." 
I  feel  that  I  have  tonight  this  distinction  thrust  upon  me.  I  will 
endeavor  to  do  as  well  as  I  can,  but  what  I  shall  say  to  you  will 
be  of  the  past.  The  future  is  to  be  made  b\^  the  gentlemen  that 


23 

I  see  before  me.  My  topic  is  "Underwriting  and  its  Methods 
Forty  Years  Ago."  In  speaking  on  this  topic  I  shall  of  necessity 
refer  to  some  matters  prior  to  1850  and  give  you  some  personal 
reminiscences. 

The  number  of  stock  insurance  companies  in  existence  forty 
years  ago  was  comparatively  small.  Many  of  the  large  com- 
panies of  today  were  not  in  existence.  The  Phoenix  of  Hartford, 
the  Home  and  Continental  of  New  York,  and  the  Phenix  of 
Brooklyn  were  organized  in  1853,  and  a  host  of  companies  have 
been  organized  since  that  time.  Some  are  still  in  existence,  but 
many  of  them  have  retired  from  business.  I  tried  to  secure  from 
the  Massachusetts  insurance  department  some  data  as  to  the 
number  of  companies  doing  business  in  Massachusetts  in  1850; 
but  have  failed,  for  no  detailed  statements  were  required  of  com- 
panies of  other  states  or  of  foreign  companies  until  1856. 

In  April,  1837,  an  act  was  passed  requiring  that  insurance 
offices  in  Massachusetts  incorporated  with  a  specific  capital 
should  make  reports  to  the  secretary  of  the  commonwealth. 
The  first  report  made  to  the  legislature  is  dated  Jan.  22,  1838, 
and  was  submitted  by  John  P.  Bigelow,  secretary  of  the  com- 
monwealth. There  were  in  existence  at  that  time  and  reports 
were  made  to  the  secretary  by  thirty-nine  companies.  These 
thirty-nine  companies  had  an  aggregate  nominal  capital  of 
$9,415,000.  Twenty-nine  companies  were  located  in  Boston. 
Ten  were  located  outside,  at  Gloucester,  Lynn,  Marblehead, 
Springfield,  Fair  Haven,  New  Bedford,  Plymouth,  Province- 
town,  and  Nantucket.  The  capital  of  the  Boston  companies  was 
$7,450,000,  and  of  the  ten  outside  companies  $1,965,000.  There 
is  no  evidence  on  record  as  to  how  much  of  this  capital  was  paid 
up.  From  the  best  sources  of  information  it  is  believed  to  have 
been  but  a  very  small  portion  of  their  nominal  capital.  These 
reports  were  very  meagre,  and  gave  no  data  as  to  the  amount  of 
business  transacted. 

This  method  of  reporting  was  continued  until  1856.  Few  of 
the  companies  reporting  in  1856  are  now  in  existence,  among 
them  are  the  Springfield  Fire  &  Marine,  which  was  organized 


24 

in  1849,  and  the  Holyoke  of  Salem,  which  was  organized  and 
commenced  business  in  1843,  and  four  Boston  companies. 

About  the  year  1855  the  insurance  department  of  Massachu- 
setts was  organized,  and  three  commissioners  appointed.  They 
made  their  first  report  in  1856.  In  the  commissioners1  report 
for  1857,  they  say: 

"Within  the  last  three  years  there  has  been  a  manifest 
improvement  in  the  insurance  business  in  this  state,  arising, 
first,  from  a  greater  interest  being  taken  in  the  subject  by  the 
community;  second,  from  better  rates  of  premiums  paid  for 
insurance.  The  first  element  of  this  improvement  has  been 
educed  by  the  impositions  practised  by  insurance  companies 
going  into  operation  without  any  actual  capital  or  basis  of 
strength,  and  calculated  only  to  furnish  employment  with 
lucrative  salaries  for  parties  having  no  regard  for  aught  but 
their  own  private  advantage."  [This  is  the  talk  of  the  then 
insurance  commissioners.  Very  likely  your  present  commis- 
sioner (turning  to  Maj.  Merrill)  will  give  you  some  other  plain 
talk  by  and  by;  he  will,  I  know,  if  you  need  it.]  "Such 
companies  as  (not  to  mention  older  ones)  the  Metropolitan  of 
Boston,  the  People's  Mutual,  the  Appleton  Mutual,  and  the 
Massachusetts  lire  &  Marine  of  Ipswich.  The  disposition  of 
the  public  to  receive  a  policy  written  by  any  company,  bearing 
the  forms  of  law,  as  a  valid  insurance,  made  the  success  of  such 
companies  easy  and  sure  for  a  time,  but  when  losses  occurred 
upon  those  policies  the  worthlessness  of  the  companies  issuing 
them  then  became  apparent.  After  years  of  suffering  from  these 
filibusters,  the  commissioners  are  happy  to  notice  and  report  a 
growing  disposition  in  the  community  to  effect  insurance  only  in 
such  companies  as  are  able  to  show  a  substantial  cash  capital, 
or  such  as  have  a  sound,  reliable  basis  of  action,  joined  with 
such  character  and  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  managers  as  will 
ensure  prompt  and  fair  responses  to  all  contracts  to  which  such 
companies  may  be  parties." 

This  seems  to  be  good,  sound  doctrine.  And,  secondly,  they 
say,  "By  the  operation  of  this  growing  public  sentiment,  to 


25 

which  we  have  alluded,  fraudulent  or  unsafe  companies,  either 
home  or  foreign,  have  been  deprived  of  a  large  part  of  their 
business,  and  honest  companies  are  freed  from  irresponsible  and 
reckless  competition,  which  has  enabled  them  to  advance  their 
rates  of  premiums  and  otherwise  to  control  and  regulate  their 
business." 

In  the  report  of  the  commissioners  for  1857  I  find  only  three 
foreign  companies,  the  Liverpool  &  London  &  Globe,  the  Royal, 
and  the  Monarch  of  England,  were  doing  business  in  Massachu- 
setts. 

In  view  of  the  great  number  of  agents  now  doing  business  in 
Massachusetts,  it  is  of  interest  to  note  the  number  of  agents 
who,  in  1856,  represented  in  that  state  what  are  now  the  large 
agency  companies  of  other  states.  For  instance,  the  JEtna  had 
in  the  state  only  ten  agents,  the  Hartford  only  nine,  the  Home 
six,  the  Continental  two,  the  Niagara  one,  the  Phenix  of  Brook- 
lyn one,  and  the  Liverpool  &  London  &  Globe  and  the  Royal  each 
had  one,  located  in  Boston,  and  the  entire  number  of  agents  repre- 
senting fire  companies  outside  of  Massachusetts  was  only  eighty- 
seven.  I  think  I  am  not  exaggerating  in  saying  they  are  num- 
bered now  by  thousands.  At  that  time  the  Hartford  Fire  Insur- 
ance Company  had  only  106  agents  in  the  country  ;  its  capital 
was  only  $150,000  and  its  premium  receipts  a  little  more  than 
half  a  million  of  dollars. 

The  great  agency  system,  through  which  the  companies  have 
built  up  their  immense  business,  was  even  then  in  its  infancy. 
We  believe  the  credit  for  inaugurating  the  agency  business  is 
due  to  Hartford,  and  to  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  first  commission  issued  by  that 
company  appointing  an  agent  at  Norwich,  Conn. : 

The  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  has  appointed  Jonathan  G. 
W.  Trumbull,  Esquire,  of  Norwich  their  surveyor  for  said  town  and  its 
neighborhood,  who  is  also  authorized  to  receive  proposals  for  insurance 
against  loss  by  fire,  in  behalf  of  said  company. 

WALTER  MITCHELL, 
HARTFORD,  Dec.  17, 1810.  Secretary. 

It  is  believed  that  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  made 
the  first  appointment  of  an  agent,  who  was  commissioned  to 


26 

countersign  fire  insurance  policies,  in  this  country  in  Novem- 
ber, 1811.  The  appointments  made  were  few  and  many  agents 
were  not  restricted  to  any  particular  territory  in  which  to  do 
business.  The  agents  in  those  days  were  men  who  were 
eno-ao-ed  in  other  businesses  or  professions.  There  were  some 

O     O  * 

notable  men  acting  as  agents.  Hon.  A.  H.  Bullock  of  Wor- 
cester, afterwards  an  illustrious  governor  of  your  common- 
wealth ;  Henry  L  Dawes  of  North  Adams,  for  a  long  time  an 
honored  senator  from  Massachusetts ;  R.  E.  Ladd  of  Springfield, 
who  has  also  held  official  position  in  the  state ;  Isaac  Davis  of 
Worcester  and  other  prominent  and  well-known  men  were 
representatives  of  insurance  companies  in  their  day. 

The  compensation  to  the  agents  was  not  as  liberal  and  muni- 
ficent as  in  these  later  days.  In  an  instruction  book  issued  by 
the  Protection  Insurance  Company  in  1835,  I  find  the  compensa- 
tion to  agents  was  5  per  cent  upon  the  amount  received  to  be 
paid  to  the  office,  and  50  cents  on  each  policy.  The  first 
mention  made  of  commissions  in  the  office  of  the  Hartford  Fire 
Insurance  Company  was  six  years  after  its  organization,  when 
Hooker  &  Brevvster  of  Middlebury,  Vt.,  were  authorized  to 
retain  for  their  services  50  cents  on  each  policy.  3h  per  cent 
was  the  maximum  commission  in  those  happy  days. 

The  first  book  of  instructions  to  agents  was  issued  by  the 
JEtna  Insurance  Company  in  1819.  In  1825  the  Hartford  Fire 
Insurance  Company  issued  instructions  to  agents,  giving  direc- 
tions in  regard  to  forms  of  writing  policies  and  securing 
adequate  rates  in  order  to  yield  a  fair  margin  of  profit,  and 
naming  rates  at  which  business  might  be  taken  on :  buildings  of 
brick  or  stone,  covered  with  tile,  slate,  or  metal,  doors  and 
windows  covered  with  iron,  and  goods  not  hazardous  therein, 
22  cents ;  same  as  above,  without  iron  windows  and  doors,  25 
cents ;  without  the  above  requirements,  30  cents ;  frame  build- 
ings filled  in  with  brick,  50  cents ;  buildings  entirely  of  wood, 
75  cents  to  $1.  In  1819  the  tariff  on  cotton  mills,  without 
picker  in  the  mill,  was  3i  per  cent ;  with  picker  in  the  mill,  4 
per  cent.  Of  course  this  embraced  the  privilege  of  running 


27 

their  picker  at  night.  The  rate  for  flax  mills  was  3£  per  cent ; 
distilleries,  2i  per  cent.  They  probably  sought  to  cheapen  the 
price  of  a  commodity  which  was  so  much  used  in  those  days, 
which  accounts  for  the  low  tariff.  In  1837  is  the  first  mention 
of  schedule  rating.  A  standard  for  cotton  or  woolen  mills  was 
published  at  that  time,  and  it  seems  that  the  Providence  standard 
was  the  outcome  of  this  schedule  of  1837.  In  1839  the  Hartford 
Fire  Insurance  Company  issued  an  instruction  book  more  elabo- 
rate than  anything  before  used. 

Boldness  in  regard  to  lines  in  those  days  was  notable.  The 
first  risk  the  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company  wrote  was  $4,000 
on  a  builder's  risk,  at  12!  per  cent  for  three  months ;  the  fifth 
risk  was  $11,000  on  a  gin  distillery,  at  1^  per  cent — again  in  the 
interest  of  the  "  good  old  times."  They  insured  a  cotton  mill  at 
75  cents ;  the  owner's  dwelling  house,  which  stood  remote  from 
the  mill,  was  rated  at  1  per  cent.  There  is  found  on  the  records 
of  the  first  year's  business  $20,000  on  a  tobacco  warehouse  on  the 
James  River,  Virginia,  at  50  cents  per  annum.  They  learned 
wisdom,  however,  by  experience,  and  after  the  lapse  of  a  few 
years  reduced  their  lines. 

The  first  record  of  one  company's  re-insuring  another  is  of  the 
Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Company's  re-insuring  the  New  Haven 
Fire  Insurance  Company  in  1822.  The  Hartford  gave  a  bond 
for  $150,000,  being  the  amount  of  its  capital,  for  the  faithful 
performance  of  the  contract.  In  those  days,  you  see,  they  had 
not  so  much  confidence  in  each  other  as  they  have  now.  The 
terms  upon  which  the  re-insurance  was  effected  are  not  recorded, 
and  if  they  were  the  parties  would  blush,  no  doubt,  to  have  the 
low  rates  known.  You  will  pardon  me  for  referring  so  many 
times  to  the  Hartford,  but  I  happen  to  have  these  facts  at  hand, 
and  they  are  interesting  as  showing  the  methods  of  transacting 
our  business  in  those  days. 

The  speaker  received  his  first  appointment  as  local  agent,  in 
August,  1847,  to  represent  the  Farmers'  Mutual  Fire  Insurance 
Company  of  Georgetown,  Mass.,  and  will  incidentally  remark 
that  before  lie  was  21  years  old  he  uas  made  a  director  in  that 


company.  At  the  annual  meetings,  in  the  month  of  May,  the 
directors  used  to  go  to  Haverhill,  to  Brown's  Hotel,  and  have  a 
shad  dinner.  I  am  sure  my  friend  Mr.  Milliard  will  remember 
Brown's  Hotel,  and  Brown  and  his  boys. 

Mr.  Hilliard — I  have  been  there  a  great  many  times. 
Mr.  Chase — They  served  a  good  dinner  and  always  had  some- 
thing with  it.      [Laughter.]     Mr.   Hilliard  will  testify  to  that 
fact,  I  know. 

•Mr.  Hilliard — Correct. 

Mr.  Chase— That  face  of  his  still  speaks.  Well,  it  was  a 
notable  occasion.  I  have  now  in  my  desk  the  second  policy 
written  at  my  agency,  dated  Aug.  12,  1847.  In  a  few  months 
there  was  added  to  my  list  of  companies  the  New  England  Fire 
&  Marine  Insurance  Company  of  Concord,  N.  H.,  and  the  Equit- 
able Insurance  Company  of  the  same  place.  I  think  my  friend 
Mr.  Eastman  will  remember  that  a  few  years  ago,  being  in  Con- 
cord, I  started  out  to  find  the  old  office  where  I  used  to  go  about 
once  in  two  months  to  report.  Looking  up  and  down  the  street 
I  saw  a  building  which  I  thought  was  the  place.  I  knew  my 
friend  Eastman  had  an  office  upstairs,  and  I  went  up  and  said, 
"  Mr.  Eastman,  about  where  is  the  place  where  the  old  office  of 
the  New  England  Fire  &  Marine  Insurance  Company  stood  ?  " 
"Well,"  said  he,  "  this  is  the  very  building,  and  this  is  the  very 
room,  and  there  is  the  old  president's  desk  still  standing."  I 
presume  there  is  where  Mr.  Eastman  received  the  inspiration 
which  has  made  him  so  successful  in  managing  the  insurance 
business  so  many  years  and  now  as  an  officer  of  the  Capital  Fire 
of  Concord. 

'  The  Holyoke  and  Bowditch  insurance  companies  of  Salem 
were  added  to  my  list  after \vards.  The  Holyoke,  I  believe,  is 
still  in  existence  and  doing  business.  [Laughter.]  Am  I  right, 
Mr.  Commissioner? 

Mr.  Merrill— You  are. 

Mr.  Chase — The  Holyoke  is  still  in  existence. 

Mr.  Merrill — Very  much. 

Mr.  Chase — I  afterwards  had  the  agency   for  the  People's  of 


29 

Taunton,  and  then  the  People's  of  Worcester,  which  will  be 
remembered  by  many  of  those  present.  This  last  company  was 
organized  in  1851.  Mr.  Sanford  J.  Hall,  the  honored  and  accom- 
plished secretary  of  the  Springfield  Fire  &  Marine  Insurance 
Company,  was  then  the  book-keeper  in  the  office  of  the  People's, 
and  has  been  continuously  in  the  business  ever  since,  and  is  one 
of  the  oldest  and  most  respected  insurance  officers  in  the  country. 
Only  the  Holyoke  of  the  companies  represented  in  my  agency  is 
now  in  existence. 

The  first  compensation  which  the  speaker  received  was  the 
policy  fee,  paid  by  the  assured,  ranging  all  the  way  from  a  dol- 
lar to  a  dollar  and  a  half.  Afterwards  he  received  a  commission 
of  5  per  cent.  The  territory  of  the  agency  was  a  large  one, 
embracing  Central  and  Western  Massachusetts  and  the  state  of 
Connecticut,  and  he  ventured  to  write  policies  within  a  radius  of 
ten  miles  of  the  home  of  the  great  agency  companies  of  Hartford. 
Risks  which  the  speaker  could  not  carry  in  companies  repre- 
sented in  his  agency  he  sent  to  Boston  to  Mr.  Oliver  Brewster,  a 
broker,  who  may  be  remembered  by  some  of  the  gentlemen 
present.  His  office  was  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Washington 
and  State  streets.  Losses  were  usually  adjusted  by  some  one 
sent  from  the  home  office  of  the  companies.  As  all  the  compa- 
nies of  my  agency  were  mutual  companies,  one  of  the  duties  was 
to  collect  the  assessments  made  from  time  to  time  to  meet  losses, 
on  which  I  received  a  commission  of  5  per  cent. 

But  times  have  changed.  The  business  has  grown  to  immense 
proportions.  The  expenses  for  doing  the  business  have  largely 
increased.  The  agents  and  loss  claimants  have  become  the 
beneficiaries  of  the  funds  gathered  by  the  companies,  who  strug- 
gle to  make  a  little  money  to  pay  a  small  dividend  to  their  stock- 
holders. In  those  good  old  days,  banquets  were  unheard  of,  and 
an  entertainment  like  the  one  we  are  enjoying  at  this  moment 
would  have  produced  such  a  consternation  as  the  underwriters 
would  never  have  recovered  from,  but,  as  I  have  said,  the  local 
agents  are  the  Croesuses  of  the  business  at  the  present  time,  and 
the  general  and  special  agents  are  important  factors  in  the  busi- 


30 

ness,  and  are  abundantly  able  to  indulge  in  luxurious  entertain- 
ments of  this  kind,  while  the  officers  of  the  companies  are  left  to 
struggle  to  make  buckle  and  strap  meet  at  the  end  of  the  year. 

But  the  good  old  times  are  gone.  The  new  times  have  come, 
and  we  are  called  upon,  as  underwriters,  to  meet  the  exigencies 
that  are  thrust  upon  us,  whether  it  be  a  Chicago  or  a  Boston 
conflagration,  and  it  should  be  a  matter  of  pride  to  us  all  to  be 
conncted  with  a  business  that  lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  the 
commercial  and  many  of  the  financial  transactions  of  the  day. 
Let  us  not  forget  the  duties  we  owe  to  our  stockholders  and  the 
public,  and  so  discharge  them  that  they  will  say  to  us,  "  Well 
done  good  and  faithful  servants." 

Mr.  Emerson — I  am  somewhat  at  a  loss,  gentlemen,  to  know 
just  how  to  introduce  the  next  speaker — whether  it  shall  be  as  the 
gifted  member  of  the  Boston  School  Board,  or  the  president  of  the 
Boston  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters,  or  by  some  other  one  of  the 
many  titles  which  the  gentleman  so  worthily  bears.  But  after 
we  have  listened  to  the  good  things  he  has  prepared  for  us 
tonight,  you  will  all  agree  with  me  that  the  proper  form  should 
be  "  Our  sweet  singer,  the  poet  laureate  of  the  Exchange,"  Mr. 
B.  B.  Whittemore. 

POEM  OP  ME,  WHITTEMOKE, 


Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Exchange:  I  am 
highly  honored  in  the  introduction.  To  be  able  to  do 
anything  in  aid  of  the  educational  interests  of  the  Athens  of 
America  is  indeed  an  honor.  It  is  an  honor  to  stand  here  as 
representing  the  Boston  Board  of  Underwriters,  a  body  of  gen- 
tlemen in  whom  you  have  the  most  unbounded  confidence,  and 
whose  normal  condition  you  are  accustomed  to  consider  as 
seizing  upon  the  very  foremost  ideas  and  putting  them  in  force, 
and  indeed,  if  they  hesitate  for  consideration  you  lift  your  hancls- 
in  amazement.  Your  president  has  assumed  on  the  strength  of 
a  trifle  which  came  under  his  eye  to  present  me  before  you  in 
the  form  in  which  I  beg  you  to  listen  to  me,  and  if  you  are  dis- 
appointed you  must  charge  the  whole  to  his  presumption. 


'-"'  1 
«j  L 


Since  Homer  wrote  and  Virgil  sung 

And  Milton's  harp  was  nobly  strung— 

Since  Dante  swept  his  strains  along 

And  Goethe  breathed  his  tender  song— 

Since  Shakepeare's  pen  in  many  a  line 

Revealed  her  spirit  all  divine— 

The  Muse  has  lingered  here  and  there 

To  make  some  soul  her  special  care, 

And,  heedless  of  its  name  or  place, 

To  crown  it  with  poetic  grace. 

She  tarried  on  old  England's  shores 

And  scattered  there  her  jewelled  stores, 

And  smiled  to  see  a  nation  won 

By  Browning  and  by  Tennyson. 

She  soared  across  the  ocean's  deep 

And  touched,  here,  in  her  magic  sweep, 

Those  wond'rous  springs,  that  raised  through  her 

Our  Longfellow  and  Whittier; 

'T  is  true  her  noblest  gifts  are  brought 

Where  loftiest  themes  engage  the  thought,  • 

Where  sacred  songs  enwrap  the  soul, 

Or  patriotic  numbers  roll ; 

Where  nature  all  her  art  retains, 

Or  passion  lingers  in  her  strains. 

And  yet,  she  guides  with  ardent  pride 

The  pen  that  paints  life's  sunny  side, 

And  turns  her  face  with  smiles  o'erlit 

To  greet  the  thought  that  teems  with  wit. 

Her  restless  spirit  falters  not, 

Invoked  in  palace  or  in  cot, 

And  well  she  heeds  the  cheerful  call ' 

That  bids  her  to  the  banquet  hall. 

Since  thus  her  kindly  forms  and  grace 

Are  fitted  to  this  time  and  place, 

An  humble  bard  may  seek  her  aid 

To  light  the  duty  on  him  laid, 

And  picture  in  some  metric  range 

The  story  of  our  own  Exchange. 

How  oft  we  think  of  good  old  times, 
Whose  fame  comes  down  in  prose  or  ry limes 
And  makes  us  sigh  for  by-gone  ways 
That  marked  the  business  of  those  days. 
How  it  does  tax  our  best  endurance 


32 


To  think  of  old-time  fire  insurance ! 
When,  with  no  extras  to  uilure  them, 
Men  sought  an  agent  to  insure  them, 
Pleased,  if  permitted  but  to  stand 
Within  his  office,  hat  in  hand, 
While  he  from  off  his  lofty  perch 
Might  give  their  case  a  careful  search, 
Applying  close  discrimination, 
E'en  on  a  dwelling  application — 
Think,  how  on  this  with  nice  conditions, 
Concerning  fires,  lights,  and  partitions, 
The  suppliant's  name  must  be  implanted 
Before  a  policy  was  granted ! 
Oh,  those  were  times  to  please  the  fates, 
When  companies  decreed  the  rates 
And  agents  all  were  quite  content 
With  net  commissions,  ten  per  cent ! 
'T  was  then  the  fashion,  with  much  sense, 
The  contract's  language  to  condense; 
Avoiding  terms  that  might  mislead 
The  humblest  holder,  who  could  read. 
The  genius,  then,  was  not  evolved, 
Who  later  on  the  problem  solved 
How,  with  much  verbage,  well  applied, 
The  public  might  be  mystified 
And  led  with  confidence  to  think 
That  contract  best,  which  used  most  ink. 
Then,  no  one  knew  and  few  men  cared 
How  assets  stood,  if  fully  aired, 
And  no  one  dreamed  official  eyes 
Would  be  employed  as  public  prys ; 
And  since  none  else  was  bound  to  tell, 
All  things  went  merrily  and  well. 

Thus,  freed  from  many  a  modern  clog, 
The  times  moved  on  with  steady  jog, 
And  companies,  both  weak  and  strong 
Were  borne  complacently  along, 
Content  with  luck,  as  luck  might  run, 
Until  October,  Seventy-One, 
When  suddenly  there  came  a  shock 
That  caused  the  insurance  world  to  rock. 
And  companies  by  scores  were  lost 
In  dread  Chicago's  holocaust ; 


Survivors  gasped,  dismayed,  dumbfounded, 

While  gazing  on  the  killed  and  wounded, 

And,  too  much  crippled  for  contention, 

They  forthwith  talked  of  a  convention, 

To  which  they  came — a  limping  lot — 

With  Hamlets's  doubt,  "  To  be  or  not," 

Adorned  with  bandages  and  patches, 

To  cover  cuts  and  woeful  scratches ; 

And,  after  some  deliberation, 

They  straightened  up  a  combination. 

No  time  was  wasted  in  debates, 

But  forthwith  up  they  put  the  rates, 

In  which  procedure,  though  hard  pressed, 

The  public  wisely  acquiesced. 

Soon  did  the  tide  financial  swell 

With  life  and  strength  that  promised  well, 

And  confidence  was  all  aglow, 

When  Boston  dealt  a  fearful  blow. 

Alas,  for  companies  again, 

When  scores  were  crippled  or  were  slain ! 

And  well  they  might  be  sore  perplexed 

To  know  what  course  they  should  take  next. 

The  old  time  custom  was  with  pills 

To  treat  all  sorts  and  kinds  of  ills, 

And,  since  remedial  aids  were  few, 

That  companies  at  that  time  knew, 

They  took  the  quickest  from  their  list 

And  gave  the  rates  another  twist. 

The  patient  public  forthwith  scowled ; 

Anon,  they  grinned  and  then  they  howled, 

And,  as  the  red-hot  rates  advanced, 

They  kicked,  and  swore,  and  madly  danced, 

And  bade  the  companies  beware ! 

There  was  a  strain  they  would  not  bear ; 

E'er  long  they  saw  'twas  very  true 
That  companies  were  weak  and  few, 
And  that  all  hands  must  bear  the  strain, 
That  served  to  build  them  up  again. 
Soon  business  moved  with  lusty  tread 
And  companies  were  richly  fed, 
And  gaily  sailed  upon  the  flood, 
That  bore  them  its  life  giving  blood. 
Their  garnered  wisdom  was  then  stored 


34 


In  care  of  a  "grand  central  board," 
Which,  in  a  firm  administration, 
Directed  all  that  combination, 
And,  since  the  late  scenes  of  distress 
"Were  changed  to  pictures  of  success, 
The  means  employed  were  highly  lauded; 
The  board,  itself,  was  well  applauded. 
The  Greeks  of  old  a  saying  had 
"  "Whom  Gods  destroy  they  first  make  mad." 
And  some  god,  of  this  insane  stamp, 
Contrived  to  gain  the  insurance  camp, 
And  make  our  board  officials  think 
'Twas  time  to  take  another  kink. 
And  so  they  talked  in  long  debates 
Of  once  more  jacking  up  the  rates. 

From  every  side  the  protest  came, 

"For  heaven's  sake,  do  not  spoil  our  game! 

Don't  touch  the  rates !    Don't  kill,  we  beg, 

The  goose  that  lays  our  golden  egg. 

The  public  ire  is  brimful  loaded, 

And  with  slight  cause  can  be  exploded. 

For  failure  nothing  can  atone, 

So,  pray,  let  well  enough  alone! " 

But  those  officials  felt  their  trust 

And,  with  their  thumbs  in  armholes  thrust, 

And  with  some  Vanderbiltian  pride — 

But  not  his  language — they  replied, 

"  We've  got  the  public— none  can  doubt  it— 

What  will  the  public  do  about  it  ?  " 

And,  since  no  power  could  then  resist, 

They  gave  the  rates  another  twist. 

What  happened?    Well,  there  came  a  crash  — 

A  rumbling  and  a  sudden  flash; 

And  those  officials  were  amazed, 

As  wildly  open-mouthed  they  gazed, 

And  saw  their  "  soft  snap,"  as  it  soared 

Amid  the  fragment  of  that  board. 

The  scene  of  trouble  that  ensued, 
Was  such  as  ne'er  before  was  brewed. 
Down  went  the  lofty  scale  of  rates ; 
In  came  commissions  and  rebates, 


35 


And  every  risk  was  fought  for  theii 
By  new  recruits  of  middlemen. 
The  companies  in  sharps  or  flats, 
Soon  quarreled  like  Kilkenny  cats ; 
And  all  the  business  with  a  thud 
"Went  down  in  vile,  competing  mud. 
And  so  time  went  with  more  or  less 
Of  tardy  gains,  or  sore  distress ; 
Until  in  Eighteen  Eighty-Three 
New  England  specials  came  to  see 
That  all  this  internecine  strife 
Was  wearing  out  the  springs  of  life, 
And  that  'twas  folly  not  to  bend 
Their  efforts  to  some  better  end. 
So,  someone  raised  a  flag  of  truce, 
Discolored  from  long  want  of  use ; 
Suggesting,  that  calm  consultation 
Might  much  improve  the  situation. 
On  that,  all  got  them  from  the  mire, 
And,  brushing  up  their  soiled  attire, 
With  lightened  hearts  and  smiling  faces 
They  left  their  barricaded  places ; 
And,  like  good,  sober  men  of  sense, 
They  met  in  friendly  confidence, 
And  on  a  bright  auspicious  morn 
Our  good  Exchange  was  fairly  born. 

'Twas  pleasant  thus  to  come  together  — 
A  change  from  cold  to  balmy  weather — 
And  now  the  question  first  in  hand 
Was,  who  should  lead  this  lusty  band? 
One  man  there  was  of  modest  mien, 
Who  much  of  stormy  times  had  seen 
But,  who  through  trials  of  the  past 
Had  held  his  courage  to  the  last, 
Whose  ripe  convictions,  though  intense, 
Were  sprinkled  with  good,  common  sense. 
On  him  all  eyes  at  once  were  cast — 
He  was  the  choice  from  first  to  last, 
And  so  by  common,  joint  consent 
He  was  installed  first  President. 
This  done,  the  assembly,  one  and  all, 
Were  anxious  for  the  opening  ball — 
And  down  they  sat,  good  souls  and  true, 


36 


To  look  the  situation  through 
And  to  devise,  like  careful  men, 
How  best  to  act,  and  where  and  when. 

All  in  a  cluster,  there  they  sat — 
A  plucky  lot,  no  doubt  of  that— 
Yet,  all  at  once,  by  some  odd  freak, 
All  hands  seemed  strangely  loth  tcf  speak, 
A  queer  sensation  on  them  hung 
And  placed  a  seal  on  every  tongue. 
What  'twas  that  held  them  none  could  tell, 
Yet  all  were  conscious  of  the  spell. 
Anon,  there  rose  a  dismal  gloom 
And  sulphurous  odors  filled  the  room. 
Then,  suddenly,  quite  near  a  post, 
Flashed  out  a  grim  and  ghastly  ghost, 
Holding  between  its  grinning  teeth 
This  bold  inscription  in  a  wreath — 
"  lam  your  Old  Board  in  this  fix, 
Departed  hence  in  Seventy-Six — 
Died,  as  have  others  of  the  dead, 
Of  gross  enlargement  of  the  head"— 
Then,  with  a  whisk  it  turned  about 
And  in  a  blue  flame  faded  out. 
'Tis  said  our  friends  met  then  and  there 
A  mighty  shock — a  fearful  scare — 
That  some  essayed  to  sing  a  psalm — 
Some  whistled,  while  appearing  calm, 
But,  sing  or  whistle,  as  they  might, 
They  trembled,  sadly  in  their  fright. 

The  chairman  struggled  to  his  feet, 

As  though  he  would  the  spectre  meet, 

Then  cried,  as  it  withdrew  from  sight, 

"  Good  bye,  old  friend,  It  served  you  right.'' 

Then,  turning  with  a  ruddier  glow, 

Said,  "  Gentlemen,  'twas  apropos— 

We'll  take  this  spectral  hint  to  heart 

And  heed  the  lesson  as  we  start. 

Don't  let  us  e'er  again  forget 

The  limitations  round  us  set, 

Nor  think  by  our  united  prattle 

To  beat  the  public  in  a  battle. 

But,  rather,  let  us  clearly  show 


37 


That  old-time,  lawless,  ways  *  must  go.' 

That,  working  to  a  better  end, 

We  both  have  some  rough  ways  to  mend. 

That,  when  their  risks  are  well  improved, 

All  dangerous  elements  removed, 

When  on  the  whole,  and  everywhere, 

They  fix  the  seal  of  constant  care, 

And,  when  to  this  they  super-add 

Our  latest  automatic  fad, 

We'll  recognize  their  new  estate 

And  meet  them  with  a  tempting  rate — 

Then  shall  we  enter  on  a  field, 

That  may  a  generous  profit  yield, 

And,  if  we  move  with  proper  pace, 

We'll  give  our  Mutual  friends  a  race." 

'•  With  that"  so  writes  our  first  recorder — 
"  The  chair  declared  remarks  in  order." 
Then  some  one  said—"  that's  very  well, 
But  how  shall  we  proceed,  pray  tell? 
This  public,  we  desire  to  handle, 
Is  not  a  colt,  that  we  can  dandle, 
A  gay  old  horse  'tis,  as  we'll  find  it 
AVith  teeth  in  front  and  heels  behind  it, 
That  long  has  roamed  about  at  will 
And  on  low  rates  has  had  its  fill, 
And  much  I  doubt  if  all  your  glitter 
Will  serve  to  captivate  the  critter. 
But,  say  he's  caught,  and  we  would  try 
Our  new  made  harness — Watch  his  eye! 
He's  seen  that  sort  of  thing  before, 
When  he  was  tired,  and  weak,  and  sore — 
And,  if  he  now  but  feels  a  strap, 
'Tis  ten  to  one  he'll  wince  and  snap 
And,  if  a  further  touch  he  feels, 
There'll  sure  be  music  at  his  heels. 
And,  if  he  give  an  old  time  toss, 
Our  plans  may  prove  a  total  loss — 
But  now  I'll  tell  you  what  we'll  do, 
Our  agents  all  shall  help  us  through. 
They've  known  the  old  horse,  long  and  well, 
And  all  its  various  kinks  can  tell, 
And  with  their  kind,  judicious  care, 
They'll  lead  and  work  him  anywhere." 


38 


With  this  advice,  which  all  thought  pat, 
The  speaker  ceased,  and  down  he  sat. 
Then  followed  speeches,  half  a  score, 
Endorsing  what  was  said  before, 
And  out  of  these  by  evolution 
Came  forth  our  present  constitution. 
And  to  this  rock  for  ten  years  past 
Our  policy's  been  anchored  fast. 
The  public  sense  our  plan  commends, 
Our  agents  are  its  hearty  friends, 
And  with  fair  profits  all  confess 
Our  good  Exchange  a  grand  success. 

Fain  would  the  writer  now  recall 

The  meed  of  praise  that's  due  to  all, 

Who  served  so  long  and  still  remain 

The  heroes  of  our  long  campaign. 

But  time  would  fail  the  points  to  tell 

That  mark  our  unique  personnel. 

We  have  our  men  of  solid  sense, 

Our  samples  of  fine  eloquence, 

Our  gladiators  in  debate, 

Our  modest  members — more  sedate — 

Our  mentors,  who  in  tangled  fight 

Are  sure  to  set  the  business  right, 

Our  men  of  courage  from  whose  grip 

'  T  is  hard  for  any  rogue  to  slip, 

Our  busy  heads  of  all  committees, 

Who  watch  the  factories,  towns,  and  cities, 

Our  young  recruits  with  fiery  zeal 

Who  furnish  steam  to  run  the  wheel, 

Our  veteran  corps— smile  for  their  sakes— 

Who  cheer  the  boys,  but  hold  the  brakes. 

And  now,  dear  friends,  our  first  decade 

Has  firmly  a  foundation  laid, 

On  which,  with  rare  experience  filled, 

We  may,  henceforth,  securely  build. 

With  courage  we'll  pursue  our  way, 

Since  wise  officials — long  our  stay — 

Believe  our  purposes  are  right 

And  are  our  honored  guests  tonight. 

And,  since  through  ten  years  we've  been  tried, 

We  may  be  pardoned,  conscious  pride, 

While  urging  friends  both  South  and  West 


39 

Like  us,  to  bear  each  trying  test, 
Remembering — in  our  prayers — the  while, 
Our  brothers  of  Manhattan  Isle. 

But  this  good  measure  of  success 
Has  come,  as  we  must  now  confess, 
From  that  sublime  and  lasting5  grip, 
That  lies  in  sterling  fellowship. 
We've  had  our  little  sideway  slips, 
Our  ripples  from  incautious  lips; 
But,  at  our  work  we've  calmly  stood 
An  ever  trusting  brotherhood. 
Trusting,  ah  yes,  e'en  o'er  that  tide 
That  bore  our  comrades  from  our  side. 
Trusting,  with  faith's  supremest  test, 
A  guiding  hand,  a  home  of  rest. 
Then,  comrades,  let  us  forward  press, 
With  newer  faith  in  manliness, 
With  confidence  in  solid  worth 
As  strongest  of  the  powers  of  earth, 
With  faith  that  highest  good  we  find 
In  all  that  benefits  mankind, 
With  pride  that  still  before  the  world 
Our  chosen  banner  is  unfurled, 
And,  with  our  duties  well  in  range, 
We'll  still  support  our  good  Exchange. 

Mr.  Emerson — I  have  the  pleasure,  now,  gentlemen,  of 
presenting  to  you  our  comrade.  Col.  Sherman,  as  our  toast- 
master  for  the  rest  of  the  evening. 

Mr.  Sherman — Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen;  Pope  in  his 
« '  Essay  on  Man  "  said  : 

"  Man  like  the  generous  vine  supported  lives, 
The  strength  he  gains  is  from  the  embrace  he  gives. 
In  their  own  orbits  as  the  planets  run, 
And  make  at  once  their  circuit  round  the  sun, 
So  two  consistent  motions  act  the  soul, 
And  one  is  for  itself  and  one  the  whole ; 
Thus  God  and  nature  linked  our  general  frame, 
And  bade  self  love  and  social  be  the  same." 

Our  self  love,  as  to  our  physical  desire,  has,  we  think,  been 
fully  satisfied  in  the  bountiful  banquet  of  which  we  have  par- 
taken ;  and  now  the  social  and  intellectual  element  in  our  nature 


,        40 

craves  the  entertainment  and  the  instruction  which  so  many  of 
the  guests  present  are  abundantly  able  to  give.  We  have  listened 
with  much  interest  to  the  record  of  our  association,  so  ably 
chronicled  by  our  historian,  and  so  sweetly  sung  by  our  poet;  we 
have  been  greatly  edified  by  the  exceedingly  interesting 
presentation,  by  a  veteran  in  the  service,  of  the  reminiscent 
incidents  of  our  profession  and  his  showing  of  its  progressive 
development  during  the  last  forty  years,  and  it  has  been 
arranged  that  there  shall  now  be  introduced  to  you  in  succes- 
sion several  of  the  managers  of  our  companies  and  a  few  of 
their  friends  who  have  honored  this  occasion  and  us  by  their 
presence  tonight.  Shakespeare  uttered  an  important  truism 
when  he  asserted  that  ««  Brevity  is  the  soul  of  wit,"  and  we 
trust  we  shall  be  pardoned  for  suggesting  in  this  connection  that 
it  is  our  earnest  desire  and  expectation  that  all  responses  to  the 
various  sentiments  proposed  tonight,  shall  be  seasoned  with  this 
one  element  of  wit. 

"  The  Massachusetts  Insurance  Department,"  honest,  conserv- 
ative, and  courageous  in  its  supervision,  it  has  proven  itself 
second  to  none  in  its  protection  of  legitimate  underwriting  and 
the  general  public.  We  are  happy  to  introduce  to  respond  to 
this  sentiment,  a  gentleman,  whom  as  the  head  of  this  depart- 
ment, we  all  esteem  as  "the  right  man  in  the  right  place," 
Hon.  George  S.  Merrill. 

EEMAEE.S  OP  GEOEGE  S,  MESEILL, 


Mr.  President,  Mr.  Toastmaster :  I  thank  you,  gentlemen, 
from  my  heart  for  the  cordiality  of  your  reception.  It  is 
pleasant  to  come  from  official  duties  to  meet  in  a  social  and  in- 
formal way  the  men  with  whom  the  insurance  department  comes 
in  contact  largely  only  officially,  and  the  men  for  whom  in  my 
brief  course  of  official  action  I  have  come,  for  their  ability,  their 
integrity,  and  their  far-sightedness,  to  possess  a  profound 
respect.  I  confess  it  is  a  little  unkind  to  introduce  anyone  after 
the  poetry  of  the  occasion.  I  have  seen  it  statbd  in  the  news- 


41 

papers  that  in  Great  Britain  they  are  a  little  in  doubt  whom  they 
shall  choose  as  the  poet  laureate  of  that  great  nation.  It  seems 
to  me  they  have  only  to  come  to  the  Boston  Board  of  Under- 
writers, and  if  all  Great  Britain  cannot  furnish  a  man  who  can 
fill  the  bill,  you  have  him  right  here  at  your  table  tonight. 

I  am  delighted  to  listen  to  these  reminiscenes  of  the  olden 
time.  It  is  pleasant  for  us  "young  fellows  "  to  hear  what  these 
elderly  men  tell  us  of  the  days  that  have  gone  by.  And  I  was 
glad  to  be  informed  that  the  local  agent  was  the  Crresus  of  the 
fire  insurance  business.  I  never  before  have  been  thrown  in 
contact  with  two  hundred  Croesuses.  Gentlemen,  I  am  very 
glad  to  see  you,  and  when  you  come  to  make  your  wills  you  can 
kindly  remember  that  there  is  a  head  of  the  insurance  depart- 
ment of  Massachusetts  upon  whom  you  can  bestow  your  untold 
millions. 

I  understand  that  this  association  of  yours  is  really  the  first 
association  of  just  this  particular  character  in  our  land.  Well, 
and  I  say  it  for  the  benefit  of  these  poor,  benighted  sons  of 
Manhattan  Isle  and  other  foreign  countries,  that  Massachusetts 
has  been  quite  in  the  habit  of  doing  the  first  thing.  Nearly  a 
century  and  a  quarter  ago,  in  that  great  conflict  which  threw  off 
a  foreign  yoke  and  made  us  a  great  nation,  it  was  Massachusetts 
that  "  fired  the  shot  heard  round  the  world."  Nearly  a  century 
later,  in  the  conflict  against  rebellion  and  against  the  disintegra- 
tion of  our  nation,  it  was  her  glad  privilege  to  give  the  first 
martyr's  blood  upon  the  alter  of  her  country.  Massachusetts 
formed  the  first  insurance  department  of  any  commonwealth  in 
this  country.  Massachusetts  gave  to  you  the  first  standard 
policy  of  fire  insurance  in  the  land  by  legal  enactment.  Massa- 
chusetts gave  you  the  first  law  for  the  thorough  and  complete 
investigation  of  the  causes  of  the  fires  that  occur  within  her 
borders.  And  if  his  excellency,  the  governor,  who  so  kindly 
consented  in  the  midst  of  his  early  duties  of  the  year  to  be  pres- 
ent for  a  short  time,  had  riot  been  compelled  to  go  away,  I 
would  say  that  Massachusetts  is  the  first  Republican  state  to 
elect  three  times  in  succession  a  Democratic  governor. 


42 

I  was  looking  a  few  days  ago  over  one  of  the  earliest  reports 
of  the  Massachusetts  insurance  department  and  I  found  that  in 
1856  we  had  nine  fire  insurance  companies  from  other  states 
transacting  business  in  this  commonwealth  and  two  branches  of 
foreign  companies.  Today  we  have  eighty-five  companies  from 
other  states  and  thirty-five  branches  of  foreign  insurance  com- 
panies, which  simply  illustrates  the  groAVth  of  this  business  in 
which  you  gentlemen  are  engaged  —  a  business  which  today,  in 
my  judgment,  is  second  in  importance  to  no  other  single  com- 
mercial interest  in  this  broad  land  of  ours.  The  companies 
transacting  business  in  Massachusetts  have  today  $270,000,000 
of  assets  and  they  have  in  force  upon  their  fire  insurance  poli- 
cies $17,000,000,000  at  risk.  Now,  stop  for  a  moment  and  con- 
sider what  that  means.  Wipe  out  tomorrow,  if  you  could,  every 
national  bank,  every  savings  bank  in  the  United  States,  and 
within  a  day  the  recuperative  power  of  this  country  would  re- 
build those  savings  banks  and  those  national  banks,  and  restore 
confidence  to  business.  But  wipe  out  the  fire  insurance  business 
and  all  the  commercial  interests  of  this  country  would  be 
paralyzed  and  destroyed  in  an  hour.  To  every  man  who  had  a 
dollar's  worth  of  property  every  day  in  his  life  would  be  a  day  of 
fear  and  every  night  would  be  a  night  of  terror  lest  his  little 
property  be  wiped  out  and  his  wife  and  children  left  with  nothing 
to  sustain  them. 

But,  gentlemen,  there  is  one  question  which  I  think  I  may  sug- 
gest to  you.  It  is  for  your  consideration ;  you  understand  it  and 
appreciate  it,  but  the  great  public  with  whom  you  deal,  I  fear,  do 
not.  During  the  year  which  has  just  closed  and  the  year  which 
preceded  it  there  was  wiped  out  by  the  flames  in  this  country 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  $140,000,000  worth  of  property.  It  is  true 
that  the  institutions  you  represent  come  in  and  replace  to  the  in- 
dividual that  which  he  has  lost.  But  the  insurance  companies 
create  nothing.  They  simply  act  as  the  medium  of  collecting 
from  the  policyholders  the  premiums  and  transmitting  the  money 
to  those  who  have  lost.  One  hundred  and  forty  million  dollars 
of  the  commercial  industry  and  earning  power  of  this  country  in 


43 

each  of  the  two  past  years  have  gone  up  in  smoke  and  gone  down 
in  ashes.  While  your  corporations  have  restored  from  what  they 
have  collected  from  the  people  the  loss  which  the  owners  have 
sustained,  yet  the  creative  industry  of  this  country  has  suffered 
to  the  extent  of  $140,000,000  in  each  of  those  two  years.  We 
cannot  go  on  in  that  way  forever.  I  do  not  expect  you  are 
going  to  be  quite  such  philanthropists  as  to  desire  that  there 
shall  be  no  fires  in  this  country,  because  then  Othello's  occupa- 
tion would  be  gone.  But  it  is  for  you  to  impress  upon  the  people 
of  the  country  these  facts,  and  to  insist  upon  it  that  the  criminal 
carelessness  in  the  matter  of  fires  that  now  exists  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  our  nation  shall  be  stopped  and  that  if 
necessary  the  strong  arm  of  the  law  shall  interpose  to  prevent 
this  awful  waste  which  is  now  going  on,  beyond  conception, 
beyond  the  experience  of  any  other  country.  In  Massachusetts 
last  year  there  was  2,874  fires.  With  the  exception  of  about  six 
hundred  reported  as  incendiary — of  which  at  least  one-half  were 
probably  not  incendiary — there  are,  as  you  look  over  the  list  as 
collated  by  the  Massachusetts  insurance  department,  less  than 
one  hundred  of  those  fires  but  which  were  from  causes  which 
were  clearly  and  absolutely  preventable,  either  by  better  build- 
ing methods  or  by  better  caution  in  the  care  of  property. 

Now  I  say  it  belongs  to  you,  gentlemen,  to  see  that  some  of 
these  methods  are  improved  and  brought  into  more  general  use 
in  the  future  I  confess  it  is  an  embarrassment  always  for  one 
who  knows  very  little  about  a  subject  to  talk  to  a  company  of 
experts,  and  the  fire  insurance  methods  in  this  country,  today, 
are  so  complete  and  so  well  carried  out  that  an  insurance 
commissioner  needs  to  know  very  little  about  fire  insurance, 
whatsoever.  I  am  reminded,  as  I  speak  to  you,  of  the  inquiry  of 
the  boy  who  asked  his  father,  ' '  Father,  if  a  boy  is  born  on  the 
ocean,  what  nationality  is  he?  "  "  Why,  the  same  nationality  as 
his  father  and  mother,  of  course."  "  Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "  but 
supposing  his  father  and  mother  are  not  with  him  and  he  is 
travelling  with  his  aunt,  then  what  ?  " 

I  heed  the  admonition  of  the  toast-master ;  I  do  not  propose  to 


44 

make  you  a  speech.  I  only  wish  to  say  this  :  I  have  been  im- 
pressed, during  the  years  in  which  I  have  occupied  the  position 
of  insurance  commissioner  of  Massachusetts,  with  the  vastly 
improved  methods  in  the  conduct  of  your  business  over  those 
which,  as  some  of  these  elderly  gentlemen  tell  us  "young  men," 
have  prevailed  in  the  past.  And  I  believe,  today,  that  the  fire 
insurance  companies  of  America  pay  ten  losses  about  which  there 
is  a  very  reasonable  question  where  they  contest  one  which  they 
ought  not  to  contest.  I  am  sure,  gentlemen,  that  in  this  associa- 
tion, and  in  all  associations  of  this  character,  when  you  come  to- 
gether as  you  do  from  time  to  time,  and  look  each  other  in  the  face, 
and  clasp  each  other  by  the  hand,  and  feel  that  throb  of  the  heart 
which  always  comes  as  one  manly  man's  hand  clasps  another's, 
you  will  improve  your  own  social  condition  and  you  will  benefit 
yourselves.  I  wish  the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange  the 
most  abundant  and  unbounded  prosperity  in  all  the  years  of  the 
future. 

Mr.  Sherman — »«  Underwriting  Organizations." 

"  Whoever  thinks  a  perfect  piece  to  see, 
Thinks  what  ne'er  was,  nor  is,  nor  e'er  shall  be." 

Peri'ection  is  not  a  characteristic  of  human  institutions.  In 
their  primitive  existence  crudeness  and  uncertainty  are  stamped 
upon  all  the  enterprises  of  man.  Only  by  a  progressive 
development  through  successive  stages  of  experience  is  the  state 
of  highest  excellence  or  approximate  perfection  attained. 
Insurance  methods  and  organizations  as  well  as  science  and 
society  are  subject  to  evolution.  We  will  introduce  to  respond 
to  this  sentiment  a  gentleman  whose  long  and  successful 
experience  in  underwriting  will  enable  him  to  speak  wisely  on 
this  subject,  Mr.  D.  W.  C.  Skilton,  president  of  the  National 
Board  of  Fire  Underwriters. 

EEMAKES  OF  D,  W,  0,  SKILTON, 


Gentlemen:  Mr.  Chase  rarely  puts  his  foot  in  it.  He 
did  tonight,  and  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  rebuke  him  a  little. 
All  Englishmen  speak  of  going  up  to  London.  Mr.  Chase  said 


45 

he  had  come  down  to  Boston.  The  rest  of  us  have  come  up. 
While  listening  to  his  remarks  and  looking  the  venerable  gentle- 
man over,  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  should  be  a  source  of 
gratification  to  all  the  rest  of  us  that  we  really  don't  belong  to 
that  clan  of  gum-eyed  veterans  that  he  is  connected  with. 
[Pantomine  of  handshaking  between  the  speaker  and  Mr. 
Chase.] 

Mr.  Toastmaster,  I  feel  it  an  honor  to  be  called  put  at  this 
early  moment  in  the  list  of  toasts,  for  while  you  are  dazed  with 
the  glorious  and  beautiful  things  that  you  have  already  heard 
you  will  not  be  badly  strained  in  listening  to  what  I  shall  say. 
The  few  remarks  that  I  make  I  imagine  will  be  something  like 
a  tinkling  cymbal  compared  with  the  symphony  of  jewels  that 
you  soon  will  have.  I  suppose  it  is  a  fact  that  most  gentlemen 
have  ambition — some  one  great  single  ambition  during  their 
life.  Speaking  of  a  friend  who  is  gone  before,  the  late  Presi- 
dent Goodnow  of  the  2Etna,  we  are  told  that  once  on  a  time 
when  he  was  connected  with  a  manufacturing  establishment  in 
the  state  of  Massachusetts,  this  little  state  we  are  now  in,  looking 
at  an  ^Etna  policy  he  remarked  that  his  ambition  would  be  satis- 
fied and  filled  if  he  could  ever  become  secretary  of  that  com- 
pany. His  ambition  was  more  than  fulfilled  ;  he  became  the  head 
of  that  great,  old  institution.  For  myself  I  don't  know  that  I 
ever  had  an  ambition,  unless  it  was  one  during  my  bo}Thood 
days.  A  new  railroad  had  been  built  through  our  town,  and  we 
saw  the  first  gallant  sons  of  Erin  who  ever  visited  that  little 
village.  We  were  afraid  of  them,  and  almost  everyone  bought  a 
dog  and  the  men  with  families  stayed  at  home  most  of  the  time 
for  a  few  weeks.  Well,  very  soon  the  trains  began  to  run,  and  I 
discovered  that  the  principal  man  on  the  passenger  train  was  the 
fellow  that  turned  the  brake  on  the  baggage  car  and  handled  the 
trunks.  Then  my  father  talked  with  me  about  nay  plans  for  the 
future  and  asked  me  what  I  had  in  view.  I  told  him  that  if  I 
could  become  the  brakejnan  on  that  passenger  train  and  on  the 
baggage  car  I  should  be  satisfied.  He  said  there  was  a  buck- 
saw out  in  the  wood  yard,  and  he  would  like  to  see  it  in  the 


46 

works  right  off.  I  certainly  never  had  the  ambition  to  make  a 
speech  here  in  Boston  near  these  tea-washed  shores,  on  this 
classic  ground  where  fair  Harvard's  sons  have  been  digging  for 
roots  since  the  early  morning  of  this  new  world.  But  here  I 
am ;  the  results  you  must  accept. 

Mr.  President,  I  promised  you  a  few  weeks  since  that  if  I  was 
able  to  come  over  to  this  beautiful  city  I  would  make  a  few 
remarks  regarding  underwriting  organizations.  It  is  my  inten- 
tion to  make  just  as  few  as  possible,  keeping  my  promise  to  the 
letter.  And  still  this  paper  does  look  formidable.  Right  here, 
gentlemen,  I  ask  you  kindly  that  if  I  make  mention  of  that 
fearful  institution  called  the  National  Board  you  will  not  be 
weary — that  is,  in  the  outset ;  you  will  be  weary  before  I  get* 
through,  I  concede  that,  but  don't  get  weary  when  you  hear  the 
word  mentioned.  Now  for  my  text  and  sermon. 

I  assert  in  the  outset  that  the  principle  of  fraternal  association 
and  co-operation  is  as  old  as  society  and  government,  and  as 
beneficent,  when  wisely  applied,  kept  free  from  greed  and 
power,  and  is  not  arbitrarily  exercised  for  selfish  ends.  The 
association  of  underwriters  together  in  national  and  department 
organizations  has,  in  my  opinion,  elevated  the  standard  of  the 
business,  broadened  and  liberalized  insurance  contracts,  and  the 
business  has  been  greatly  benefited  by  the  interchange  of 
thought  and  ideas,  and  the  members  aided  largely  in  developing 
the  interests  entrusted  to  their  care.  On  the  other  hand,  the  in- 
suring public  have  as  a  result  received  greater  protection  under 
the  insurance  policy,  and  have  been  taught  that  improvements 
in  risks  suggested  by  these  organizations  means  a  reduction  in 
the  price  of  protection.  The  gain  has  been  equitably  divided 
between  the  insured  and  the  insurer.  Possibly  you  think  I  might 
as  well  drop  the  subject  right  here,  for  I  think  that  last  phrase 
covers  the  whole  subject.  But  it  does  not  give  me  a  fair  chance 
to  say  a  few  things  that  I  think  sound  pretty  well,  so  I  will 
go  on. 

So  far  as  I  know,  the  first  board  of  underwriters  was  in 
existence  at  the  time  of  the  building  of  Noah's  Ark.  You  are 


47 

told  that  when  the  board  of  insurance  survey  made  its  report  to 
Noah,  he  looked  over  the  dimensions  of  that  grand  old  craft  and 
then  raising  his  eyes,  said,  "It  is  a  goodly  ship,  I  am  well 
assured."  We  must  accept  this  as  evidence  that  the  ship  was 
insured,  and  that  the  policy  covered  the  boat  as  a  marine,  fire, 
and  accident  risk. 

Kindly  allow  me  to  suggest  parenthetically  that  the  ark  was 
one  of  that  class  of  risks  exceedingly  popular  with  our  good 
friend  here,  Mr.  Crosby,  a  sprinkled  risk  with  two  sources  of 
supply — sprinkled  without  and  within — and  we  are  told  that  the 
external  sprinkling  appliances  were  in  full  operation  for  forty 
days  and  forty  nights.  The  interior  was  divided  into  three 
stories,  and  I  think  there  is  plenty  of  evidence  that  there  was 
running  water  on  every  floor  and  standpipes  at  every  point,  for 
we  are  told  that  the  ark  was  filled  from  end  to  end  with  "  two  of 
a  kind." 

I  suppose  the  history  of  the  world,  if  closely  written,  would 
say  that  other  boards  were  organized  from  time  to  time  all  along 
down  through  the  ages.  There  were  some  boards  during  the 
past  generation  throughout  the  United  States,  notably  the  one  at 
New  York  City,  and  I  have  no  doubt  it  will  surprise  many  here 
to  learn  that  the  organization  of  the  National  Board  of  Under- 
writers was  suggested  at  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  local  board 
in  April,  1866.  That  meeting  appointed  a  committee  of  three 
gentlemen,  Messrs.  E.  W.  Crowell,  D.  A.  Heald,  and  George 
W.  Hope,  to  take  into  consideration  the  calling  of  a  convention 
of  underwriters  to  consider  the  great  questions  of  the  hour  con- 
nected with  the  business.  Those  gentlemen,  as  a  committee,  did 
notify  the  underwriters  of  the  country  generally  to  meet  in  New 
York,  and  a  convention  was  held  in  July,  1866,  fifty-four  com- 
panies being  represented. 

The  loyal  support  given  to  the  association  by  the  members 
enabled  it  to  do  most  satisfactory  work,  and  that  very  rapidly, 
too,  for  we  find  as  a  result  of  the  organization  of  local  boards 
and  establishing  of  tariffs  of  rates  generally  throughout  the 
country,  that  the  average  rate  of  premium  that  had  been  68.48 


48 

for  the  five  years  1860  to  1865,  and  was  82.13  in  1866,  was  ad- 
vanced  to  88£  in  1870,  and  was  as  high  as  88  in  1871,  the  year 
that  the  first  organization  of  the  National  Board  practically  passed 
into  an  advanced  condition  of  decay. 

The  Chicago  fire,  of  course,  brought  about  a  reaction,  and  in 
April,  1872,  the  board  came  together  and  a  reorganization  was 
made  with  a  very  large  membership,  and  the  result  of  the  work 
done  by  that  organization  is  evidenced  in  the  average  rate  of 
premium  received  during  the  following  years.  In  1872  it  was 
92.  and  in  1873  it  reached  the  very  high  figure  of  lOli,  the 
highest  figure  known  in  the  history  of  the  business  since  1860. 
We  have  no  record  prior  to  that  time.  These  figures  are  based 
upon  the  reports  of  the  companies  that  were  doing  business  in 
the  state  of  New  York.  There  were  a  larger  number  of  com- 
panies doing  business  in  that  state  and  making  reports  than  in 
any  other  state  in  the  Union,  I  think. 

During  the  five  years  following  1873  the  average  rate  steadily 
sagged  until  in  1878  it  was  as  low  as  76! .  The  highest  point 
reached  since  that  time  was  in  1886,  when  the  figure  was  90.42. 
In  1891  it  was  80.94.  We  have  yet  to  learn  what  it  was  in  the 
year  1892,  but  probably  several  points  higher  than  during  the 
previous  year.  A  writer  has  said  within  a  few  days  that  the 
National  Board  of  Underwriters  was  one  of  the  greatest  humbugs 
of  the  time.  Now  that  depends  upon  how  you  look  at  it.  It 
must  be  either  from  the  standpoint  of  facts  or  figures ;  facts  as 
they  are  and  were,  or  figures  of  speech  as  they  may  be  made. 

The  one  great  indisputable  fact  is  that  the  National  Board  made 
possible  all  that  has  followed  it  in  the  way  of  reform  and  improve- 
ment in  our  business.  The  organization  was  the  salvation  of  the  fire 
insurance  companies  of  this  country.  It  was  an  educator  both  to  the 
companies,  the  agents  and  the  people.  Its  fall  from  power  was  be- 
cause it  struck  upon  the  same  rock  that  has  wrecked  so  many  or- 
ganizations, viz  :  the  arbitrary  use  of  power.  No  underwriting 
organization  (and  we  will  say  nothing  about  others)  can  continue  a 
successful  career  if  it  exercises  its  power  in  a  way  that  appears  arbi- 
trary or  oppressive.  The  reaction  is  serious  and  the  result  disastrous. 


49 

The  National  Board  at  a  special  meeting  held  in  1876,  when 
there  was  a  disturbed  feeling  existing  among  the  members,  and 
the  members  were  not  altogether  loyal  to  the  organization, 
listened  to  a  very  important  report  made  by  a  committee  of 
fifteen  that  had  been  appointed  during  the  previous  April,  one 
of  the  ablest  committees  ever  created.  I  am  sure ;  I  was  a  mem- 
ber of  it,  and  I  happened  to  be  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  ques- 
tion. In  that  report  it  was  suggested  that  the  organization 
foster  state  boards  and  secure  if  possible  the  co-operation  of 
local  boards  in  the  making  of  rates.  The  board  declined  to 
accept  the  suggestion,  and  that  was  the  rock  on  which  the  craft 
was  disabled.  From  that  time  until  this  it  has  not  been  an 
organization  governing  the  matter  of  rates  or  commissions,  but 
the  seed  planted  was  bound  to  bring  forth  fruit,  and  the  first 
crop  was  state  boards;  at  first  endeavoring  to  do  their  work 
without  the  co-operation  of  the  local  boards  and  agents ;  later 
aiming  to  secure  that  co-operation  ;  but  the  effort  came  too  late 
to  make  the  move  a  success. 

Then  the  department  organizations,  notably  that  of  the  iSew 
England  Exchange,  our  host  tonight.  The  lessons  learned  by 
the  companies  under  the  National  Board,  and  the  experience  of 
the  companies  and  the  field  men  in  the  state  board  organizations, 
had  taught  all  that  it  was  possible  that  organizations  might  be 
formed  that  could  do  the  work  in  the  field  better  than  any  there- 
tofore in  existence.  The  work  done  by  the  New  England 
Exchange  has  been  so  well  done  that  the  organization  is  practi- 
cally a  model  one.  It  has  been  a  wonderful  school  for  field 
men,  and  the  officers  of  the  companies  have  learned  their 
lessons,  and  today  I  think  it  is  proper  for  me  to  say  that  if  a 
gentleman  expects  to  travel  in  the  New  England  states  as  a 
special  agent  or  adjuster  for  a  fire  insurance  company,  he  can 
have  no  standing  in  the  business  unless  he  carries  the  credentials 
of  the  New  England  Exchange. 

Now,  gentlemen,  let  me  say  in  all  candor,  we  must  use  our 
power  justly,  but  conservatively.  Let  us  avoid  the  rock  I  have 
referred  to  and  keep  well  in  mind  the  fact  that  today  the  threat- 


60 

ening  clanger  is  adverse  legislation ;  and  in  all  the  efforts  for 
any  great  radical  reform  we  should  aim  to  educate  our  agents 
and  the  people  before  the  reform  is  put  in  practical  operation. 
I  fear  that  if  we  should  make  a  mistake  in  this  particular,  we 
would  find  ourselves  very  much  in  the  position  that  a  committee 
of  artists  of  New  York  found  themselves  when  visiting  Wash- 
ington to  secure  the  repeal  of  the  law  that  places  a  duty  on 
imported  works  of  art.  This  committee  of  artists  appeared 
before  a  committee  of  congress  duly  authorized  to  grant  a  hear- 
ing, and  after  the  artists  had  clearly  and  forcibly  stated  their 
position,  and  backed  up  their  request  by  a  memorial  signed  by  a 
great  number  of  people,  the  Hon.  H.  Seed,  member  of  congress 
from  Seedsville,  St.  Lawrence  County,  rose  from  his  seat,  and 
thrusting  his  hands  as  far  down  into  his  pockets  as  possible, 
said,  *«  Now  you  don't  know  nothing  what  you  want.  You  don't 
want  the  duties  taken  off  works  of  art.  We  know  better  than 
you  what  is  needed,  and  we  are  going  to  give  it  to  you." 

Now,  gentlemen,  I  cannot  sit  down  without  thanking  the  New 
England  Insurance  Exchange  for  the  great  assistance  it  has  been 
to  my  own  company  during  these  ten  active  years  in  the  busi- 
ness. 1  thank  you  all,  friends,  honestly  and  sincerely;  and  I 
thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  your  courtesy  and  kindness  in  listen- 
ing to  me.  [Applause.] 

Mr.  Goddard — I  have  just  received  a  telegram  from  Eugene 
Harbeck,  president  of  the  Underwriters'  Association  of  the  North- 
west : 

Sincerely  regretting  my  inability  to  be  present  at  the  tenth  anniversary 
of  your  most  valuable  association,  I  desire,  on  behalf  of  the  North- 
western association,  to  congratulate  you  on  the  success  of  your  organiza- 
tion and  the  good  practical  work  in  the  interest  of  sound  underwriting 
which  you  have  accomplished  and  are  accomplishing.  "We  extend  the 
hand  of  good  fellowship  to  you,  one  and  all,  and  cordially  invite  you  to 
attend  our  annual  meeting  this,  the  World's  Fair  year.  If  Mr.  Charles 
Lyman  Case  is  with  you  he  will,  as  a  member  of  our  association,  confirm 
this  by  word  of  mouth.  Fraternally,  EUGENE  HAKBECK,  President. 

The  committee  would  also  announce  that  they  have  received  a 
number  of  letters  from  the  managers  and  officers  of  companies 


51 

and  invited  guests  who  are  unable  to  be  present  with  us,  express- 
ing kindly  and  fraternal  feelings  for  the  Exchange  and  their 
regret  at  their  absence. 

Mr.  Sherman — "  Boston,"  a  beacon  light  whose  rays  of  poten- 
tial influence  have  shone  on  every  American  community,  proving 
an  important  factor  in  moulding  moral  and  intellectual  character. 
We  will  introduce,  to  respond  to  this  sentiment,  a  gentleman 
fully  identified  with  the  interests  of  Boston  and  well  known  in 
the  insurance  world,  a  self-made  man,  whose  untiring  industry, 
acknowledged  probity,  and  ingenious  and  magnetic  enterprise, 
have  made  him  the  sole  proprietor  of  a  leading  Boston  agency 
and  the  resident  manager  of  the  Imperial  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany. Gentlemen,  Mr.  John  C.  Paige. 

EEMAKKS  OF  JOHN  0,  PAIGE. 


Mr.  Toastmaster,  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen:  A  man 
would  be  insensible  to  the  kindly  feelings  of  his  friends  who 
was  not  deeply  touched  by  such  an  introduction  and  such  a 
greeting  as  you  have  given  me  here  tonight.  It  is  the  more 
dear  to  me  from  the  fact  that  I  have  been  one  of  you, 
amongst  you,  grown  up  with  the  most  of  you,  and  am,  emphati- 
cally, in  my  education  and  desires,  of  that  grade  in  the  profes- 
sion— the  highest,  I  think — a  field  man.  I  came  into  the 
business  from  the  country  local  agency.  I  have  always  revered 
the  local  agent,  but  I  have  always  honored  and  never  forgotten 
the  great  influence,  the  great  authority,  and  great  usefulness  of 
the  field  man.  I  look  upon  the  fifteen  active  years  of  my  life 
that  I  spent  in  the  field  as  giving  me  the  only  real,  true, 
genuine,  foundation  knowledge  of  the  insurance  business  which 
has  enabled  me  to  get  such  success  as  I  have  attained.  But, 
gentlemen,  these  words  as  regards  myself,  not  those  as  regards 
the  profession  of  a  field  man,  are  unpremeditated,  and  they  have 
no  part  or  lot  in  my  response  to  the  toast  that  you  have  given  me. 
A  larger  subject,  it  seems  to  me,  could  not  be  assigned. 


52 

So  long  ago  as  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  there 
were  sturdy,  well-conditioned,  well-educated,  forcible  men  in 
England,  noted,  perhaps,  most  chiefly  for  the  peculiarity  and 
sternness  of  their  religious  views — men  of  Lincolnshire,  who  were, 
if  we  read  history  aright,  always  respected  but  not  always 
tolerated.  They  were  known  as  "Boston  men."  And  that, 
gentlemen,  takes  you  back  more  than  thirty  years  before  any  of 
those  numerous  small  100-ton,  30-ton  and  80-ton  ships  came 
over  to  exploit  Massachusetts  and  Massachusetts  Bay.  We  find 
Boston  in  New  England,  established  in  September,  1630.  We 
find  it  distinctly  stated  by  those  people  who  were  best  qualified 
to  judge  what  led  to  the  naming  of  Boston — we  find  it  recorded 
in  the  diaries  of  Gov.  Winthrop  and  Lieut. -Gov.  Dudley  that  it 
was  their  intention  before  they  left  their  native  land  to  name  the 
place  in  which  they  settled  Boston.  And  when  they  arrived  that 
somewhat  singular  historical  character,  that  man  who  dwelt 
about  where  the  Somerset  club  is  now  located,  that  man  who  at 
that  time  was  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  peninsula  of  about  900 
acres  which  forms,  with  the  made  land,  the  old  Boston,  the 
actual  Boston — that  man,  William  Blackstone,  living  there  on  the 
side  of  Beacon  Hill,  having  selected  his  dwelling  place  because 
of  the  beautiful  spring  located  somewhere  near  where  Louisburg 
square  now  is,  and  mooring  his  boat  at  the  foot  of  what  is  now 
Pinckney  street,  went  over  to  Charlestown,  where  Gov.  Winthrop 
and  a  few  of  his  party  were  temporarily  quartered,  and  invited 
them  to  come  over  here  and  buy  his  land.  His  reason  undoubt- 
edly was  that  there  were  getting  to  be  too  many  people  near  him. 
There  were  about  300  of  these  people — men,  women,  children, 
and  servants — and  he  wanted  to  get  away  somewhere  where  he 
could  worship  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  his  own  con- 
science and  not  be  interfered  with;  and  so  he  went  down  into 
Rhode  Island  and  established  that  wonderful  river  on  which  there 
are  so  many  manufacturing  establishments,  now  fully  insured  in 
the  mutuals. 

And,  gentlemen,   Boston  permeated  and  extended  and  made 
its  influence  felt,  and  soon  wiped  out  and  obliterated  the  pronri- 


53 

nence  of  the  older  communities  in  what  is  now  the  United  States 
of  America.  Its  influence  formed  the  first  confederation  of 
colonies;  it  created  the  first  colonial  government;  in* short,  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  became  the  ruling  colony  of  the 
North  Atlantic  coast.  It  was  the  men  of  Boston  who  did  this. 
It  is  due  to  Boston  that  most  of  the  great  cities  of  the  great 
West  and  most  of  the  railroads  of  the  groat  West  have  been 
built.  It  is  a  very  common  thing  to  say  that  Boston  neglects  to 
look  after  its  own  and  spends  its  entire  time  building  up  other 
communities.  But  Boston  sent  out  some  wonderful  men ;  and 
touching  for  a  moment  upon  the  insurance  business,  we  find  it 
recorded  that  the  oldest  existing  insurance  company  established 
in  America  was  founded  by  that  great  Bostonian,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  born  in  what  is  now  Milk  street,  opposite  the  then 
location  of  the  Old  South  Church.  It  was  due  to  the  genius  of 
Benjamin  Franklin  that  the  Philadelphia  Contributionship  was 
established.  That  company  is  still  in  existence,  and  it  is  fairly 
the  oldest  insurance  company  in  America. 

The  first  insurance  company  established  in  Boston,  the  Massa- 
chusetts Mutual  Insurance  Company,  organized  about  1790,  was 
required  by  the  law  passed  by  the  government,  before  it 
could  enter  upon  business,  to  secure  subscriptions  amounting  to 
$2,500,000  of  fire  insurance.  That  company  was  the  first  insur- 
ance company  in  Massachusetts.  Prior  to  that  time  fire 
insurance  was  not  known.  Marine  insurance  was  practiced 
by  a  man  who  kept  what  was  called  an  underwriter's  office,  about 
where  the  Union  Bank  building  is  now  located  in  State  street. 
But  organized  insurance,  the  organized  collection  of  the  premi- 
ums of  the  many  to  pay  the  losses  of  the  few,  was  first  attempted 
in  Massachusetts  in  1790.  At  that  time  Boston  had  a  popula- 
tion of  a  few  thousand  people.  The  growth  of  Boston  was 
steady  and  the  growth  of  the  insurance  business  of  Boston  was 
steady.  We  find  only  as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury that  the  fire  insurance  business  was  so  little  practiced  that 
the  older  Balch,  the  grandfather  of  the  present  president  of  the 
Boylston  Insurance  Company,  then  president  of  the  Merchants' 


54 

Insurance  Company  of  Boston,  was  accustomed  to  issue  circu- 
lars, little  sheets  of  paper  looking  very  much  like  a  small  hand- 
bill, in  which  he  pleaded  with  the  people  in  curious  and  quaint 
language  to  come  in  and  insure  their  buildings  and  their  furni- 
ture, and  their  merchandise,  and  told  them  if  their  buildings 
were  of  a  certain  character  the  rate  would  be  25  cents  and  if 
they  were  a  little  worse  they  would  be  30  cents,  and  if  they  were 
built  entirely  of  wood  they  would  be  50  cents  per  annum.  And 
out  of  those  times  have  grown  the  wonderful  insurance  business 
of  the  cit37  of  Boston. 

But  it  was  given  to  me  not  to  talk  about  the  insurance  business 
of  Boston,  not  to  talk  about  the  associations  which  have  gov- 
erned the  insurance  business  of  the  city  of  Boston,  but  to  say 
something  to  you  of  Boston  in  a  broader  and  more  comprehen- 
sive sense;  something  of  that  Boston  which  has  exercised,  as 
your  toastmaster  so  fittingly  says,  a  potential  influence  which 
has  not  been  limited  by  the  area  of  the  United  States  of  America ; 
that  Boston  which  at  the  time  of  its  incorporation  as  a  city, 
seventy  years  ago,  is  said  by  Bancroft,  the  historian,  than  whom 
there  is  no  greater  authority,  to  have  been  the  first  commercial 
city  in  the  United  States — more  important  in  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  interests  under  its  control  than  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, or  any  other  city  of  the  country  ;  that  Boston  which  has 
gone  steadity  forward,  that  Boston  which  has  increased  in  popu- 
lation and  in  wealth  and  in  potential  influence,  which  has  been 
built  up  by  the  people  of  the  adjacent  New  England  States  and 
by  the  people  of  other  countries,  but  which  still  remains  exactly 
where  we  found  her  270  years  ago,  when  the  Boston  men 
came  over  to  create  a  new  country,  to  create  a  new  life 
upon  a  new  continent,  when  they  left  their  homes  in  1629 
with  the  determination  that  they  would  come  over  here  and 
found  a  town  and  call  it  Boston ;  that  same  influence,  while 
it  has  not  gone  about  the  world  founding  other  Bostons,  has 
taken  up  the  thread,  has  taken  up  the  work  of  those  patriots, 
those  ancestors,  those  developers  of  this  new  country,  and  has 
made  Boston  influence  everywhere  felt. 


55 

We  lack  a  little — and  I  sa}*  this  with  all  knowledge  of  exactly 
what  it  means — we  lack  a  little  of  that  ecstacy  which  belonged 
to  the  earlier  Boston  and  which  belongs  to  the  growing  towns  of 
the  West.  We  are  a  little  too  much  inclined  to  deprecate 
Boston.  People  said  to  me  when  I  came  here  and  concluded  to 
make  my  residence  here  twenty  years  ago,  ««  What  do  you  want 
to  throw  your  life  away  in  Boston  for?11  Gentlemen,  I  appeal 
to  you ;  most  of  you  know  me ;  has  my  life  been  thrown  away 
trying  to  carve  out  a  career  in  Boston  ?  Would  I  have  been 
likely  to  succeed  better  in  some  other  town,  in  some  town  where 
there  would  have  been  a  warmer  reception  to  me  when  I  came  ? 
I  certainly  am  satisfied,  and  I  have  done  what  I  have  done  in  the 
environment  of  a  delightful  people,  in  a  social  life  which  is 
unequaled.  unapproachable  elsewhere  than  in  Boston,  amid 
surroundings  which  cannot  be  duplicated.  Those  old  patriots, 
those  old  emigrants — for  that  is  what  they  were — who  came  over 
here  in  1630  and  determined  to  found  a  city,  founded  not  only  a 
city,  but  they  founded  an  influence.  That  influence  every  one 
of  you  gentlemen  who  reside  or  make  your  business  head- 
quarters in  Boston  can  readily  understand. 

But,  gentlemen,  your  toastmaster  has  admonished  every  one 
to  be  brief.  No  one  ever  knew  me  to  be  brief.  I  recollect 
having  a  head  shaken  at  me  years  ago  because  I  talked  too  long. 
But  I  am  going  to  give  you  a  few  figures  and  not  more  than  you 
can  easily  digest,  I  hope.  It  was  in  1883  that  your  exchange  was 
formed.  It  was  in  1882  that  you  projected  it.  In  1882  the 
population  of  the  city  of  Boston  was  337,860.  In  1892  it  had 
gained  more  than  30  per  cent  and  was  471,711.  But,  gentle- 
men, the  valuation  had  gained  50  per  cent  and  had  gone  up  from 
a  trifle  over  $600,000,000  to  nearly  $900,000,000.  The  number 
of  mercantile  buildings  in  the  city  of  Boston  had  gained  25  per 
cent,  and  the  number  of  dwelling  houses  had  gained  more  than 
30  per  cent,  making  the  total  number  of  dwelling  houses  in  the 
city  limits  of  Boston  at  the  present  time  52,831,  and  a  total  num- 
ber of  buildings  of  63,066,  with  total  valuation  of  buildings, 
according  to  the  assessors1  books,  of  nearly  $300,000,000.  It  is 


56 

no  mean  city  that  can  boast  of  a  population  within  its  own  limits 
of  nearly  half  a  million  and  a  net  valuation  of  nearly  $900,000,000, 
which  will  go  probably  by  the  assessors1  valuation  of  next  May 
to  over  $1,000,000,000.  And  when  you  take  into  consideration 
that  within  five  miles  of  my  office  door  there  is  a  New  England 
city  just  incorporated,  which,  in  1883,  when  you  formed  your 
Exchange,  was  a  town  of  only  3,000  population  and  today  has 
15,000,  you  can  see  that  Boston,  besides  growing  within  its 
municipal  limits,  is  building  up  such  towns  and  cities  as  Everett 
and  others  in  its  suburbs,  while  the  environment  of  Boston  gives 
you  a  total  population  within  a  radius  of  11  miles  of  the  City 
Hall — within  a  circle  22  miles  in  diameter — of  more  than 
1,100,000  today.  There  are  very  few  of  your  boom  towns  in 
the  West  that  can  match  that  record  and  show  a  steady  increase 
in  population  and  a  steady  increase  in  valuation  for  the  whole 
decade. 

Now,  then,  has  Boston  kept  pace  with  the  necessity  of  the 
protection  of  its  property  ?  Now,  among  the  most  essential 
elements  of  protection  are  good  streets  and  good  water  works  and 
a  good  fire  department.  The  number  of  miles  of  accepted  paved 
or  macadamized  streets  within  the  city  limits  is  now  434.59.  The 
number  of  miles  of  water  pipes,  all  provided  with  appliances 
making  them  available  for  fire  purposes,  is  557.  That  exceeds 
the  number  of  miles  of  street,  because  of  the  fact  that  in  many  of 
the  principal  streets  the  pipes  are  duplicated.  The  increase  of 
miles  of  street  and  miles  of  water  pipe  has  been  almost  identical, 
with  a  slight  difference  in  favor  of  the  water  pipes.  The  total 
capacity  of  the  water  works  has  increased  since  the  Boston  fire  of 
1872,  when  large  expenditures  were  made  by  the  then  city  govern- 
ment, from  13,000.000  gallons  daily  to  nearly  38,000,000  at  the 
present  time,  or  nearly  three  times  as  much  water  supply  as  in 
1872.  The  fire  department  has  increased  since  1872  from  101 
to  603  permanent  men.  The  number  of  steam  fire  engines  in  com- 
mission has  increased  in  the  same  period  from  21  to  43,  added  to 
which  are  10  chemical  engines,  23  pieces  of  other  apparatus, 
such  as  water  towers  and  Siamese  connection,  and  the  like,  and 


57 

one  fire-boat.  The  annual  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  fire  depart- 
ment, thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  Boston  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers, in  which  they  were  thoroughly  supported  by  the  mer- 
cantile community  of  Boston — for  Boston  merchants  are  always 
patriotic  in  such  matters  when  they  are  appealed  to — has  been 
increased  in  very  recent  years  to  $1,000,000.  The  bulk  of  that 
increase  has  been  made  within  the  last  four  years.  In  1872  the 
cost  of  maintenance  of  the  Boston  fire  department  was  in  round 
numbers  $400,000,  and  in  1882  it  had  only  advanced  to  $460,000, 
whereas  in  1892  the  appropriation  for  the  current  expenses  of 
the  fire  department  for  the  municipal  year,  as  I  have  said,  was 
$1,000,000. 

Gentlemen,  you  must  see  that  those  underwriters  of  Boston  who 
are  members  of  that — in  your  minds — somewhat  halting  institu- 
tion, the  Boston  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters,  have  accomplished  a 
good  deal  in  the  little  baliwick  of  a  few  hundred  acres  which  is 
under  their  control.  Fire  insurance  premiums  of  the  city  of  Boston 
have  increased  in  the  last  ten  years  very  much  more  in  proportion 
than  the  valuation.  The  valuation,  as  I  have  alread}^  told  you, 
has  increased,  substantially,  40  per  cent,  and  the  fire  insurance 
premiums  have  increased,  substantially,  50  per  cent.  The 
amount  of  fire  losses,  I  am  sorry  to  say — but  it  is  necessary  to 
say  it  in  order  to  show  that  we  have  not  imposed  upon  the  public 
— has  increased  in  the  same  ratio.  There  is  no  more  probability 
of  making  money  upon  the  rates  of  today  for  the  fire  insurance 
companies  than  there  was  upon  the  rates  of  1892.  The  Exchange 
and  the  Boston  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters  were  born  within  a 
few  weeks  of  each  other.  The  Boston  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers, then  called  the  Boston  Tariff  Association,  came  into 
being  about  two  months  earlier  than  the  Exchange  But  it 
came  into  being,  gentlemen,  at  a  time  when  the  Boston  under- 
writing interests  were  in  a  very  healthy  condition ;  1882,  I 
believe,  the  secretar}^  of  the  Boston  board  will  tell  you  when  he 
comes  to  speak — and  far  be  it  from  me  to  use  up  his  functions — 
was  about  the  most  profitable  year  that  the  fire  insurance  com- 
panies ever  had  in  Boston.  And  yet  they  organized  an  associa- 


58 

tion  which  has  done  aU  of  this  work  in  anticipation  of  bad  times 
to  come,  because  they  saw  all  about  them  in  New  England  that 
there  were  bad  times,  and  they  knew  it  was  simply  because  of 
some  peculiar  fortune  that  Boston  was  not  in  bad  condition  at 
the  same  time-  that  its  associates  and  neighbors  were  in  bad 
condition. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  now  want  to  ask  you  one  thing  more.  I 
conceived  it  was  my  duty  to  come  here  and  talk  up  Boston.  I  am 
not  native ;  I  am  not  to  the  manor  born,  although  I  am  a  New 
Englander  by  birth.  I  know  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  people 
in  the  city  of  Boston  were  not  born  in  Boston,  but  I  know  that  the 
newcomers,  the  emigres,  so  to  speak,  are  as  loyal  to  the  city  and 
as  hearty  in  its  support  as  are  its  own  children.  I  only  want  to 
say  to  you  now,  gentlemen,  that  when  you  go  out  into  the  field 
to  talk  about  your  business,  it  seems  only  fair,  only  what  it  is  for 
your  self-interest  to  do — and  I  know  of  nothing  more  likely  to 
govern  men  in  their  actions  than  self-interest — it  is  nothing  more 
than  what  it  is  your  self-interest  to  do,  to  preach  Boston,  to  advo- 
cate Boston,  to  indicate  to  everyone  with  whom  you  come  in  con- 
tact that  Boston  is  a  great  and  growing  and  flourishing  city,  into 
which  they  want  to  pour  all  of  their  savings  and  to  which  they 
want  to  come  with  all  their  business — not  insurance  business,  but 
other  business.  The  Boston  people  are  entirely  satisfied  with 
what  insurance  business  naturally  belongs  in  Boston,  but  they 
want  you  to  go  out  and  talk  up  Boston.  They  do  not  want  you 
to  try  the  effect  as  you  go  about  of  acting  tosvards  Boston  as  a 
man  does  when  he  tries  to  wink  at  a  pretty  woman  in  the  dark. 

Mr.  Sherman — "The  Special  Agent."  There  is  no  more 
arduous,  or  delicate,  or  responsible  position  connected  with  a  fire 
insurance  company  than  that  occupied  by  the  faithful  special 
agent,  and  when  he  enjoys  the  fullest  confidence  of  his  princi- 
pals in  his  ubiquitous  duties,  he  makes  or  he  mars  the  reputation 
of  his  company  in  the  field  over  which  he  is  supervisor.  All 
honor  to  the  loyal  special  agent.  We  are  exceedingly  fortunate 
in  being  able  to  introduce  to  you  as  a  respondent  to  this  toast 


69 

one  who  from  several  years1  successful  experience,  both  as 
special  agent  in  the  field  and  supervisor  of  field  work  in  the 
home  office,  is  fully  competent  to  address  us  understanding! y  on 
this  subject.  Gentlemen,  the  secretary  of  the  Old  ^Etna  Insur- 
ance Company. 

EEMAEKS  OP  JAMES  P.  DUDLEY, 


Gentlemen:  The  special  agent  is  entitled  to  a  much  abler 
advocate  than  you  have  in  me  tonight,  and  it  is  a  matter  of 
regret  that  the  president  was  not  able  to  produce  someone  who 
could  better  do  justice  to  you  than  I  can.  My  only  apology  for 
accepting  the  position  and  allowing  myself  to  be  put  to  the  front 
in  this  matter  is  the  intense  interest  that  I  have  in  you  and  my 
great  respect  for  you,  which  has  grown  up  from  having  served 
many  years  in  the  field  together  with  you  and  knowing  fully  and 
well  the  arduous  duties  which  are  daily  placed  upon  you. 

I  have  but  one  or  two  thoughts  to  express  tonight,  as  we 
have  all, lived  tiie  same  life  and  have  had  the  same  experiences 
with  our  trials  and  our  triumphs,  so  that  I  could  do  nothing 
more  except  repeat  in  other  words  what  you  perhaps  already 
could  better  than  I  can  and  know  as  fully  as  myself.  Some 
years  ago,  at  one  of  the  large  meetings  of  the  national  board  as 
a  rate-making  power — I  believe  the  body  still  lives — when  the 
fact  that  rates  could  not  be  made  by  companies  and  maintained 
became  admitted,  although,  as  it  seemed  then,  a  sorrowful 
fact,  a  body  of  gentlemen  representing  the  New  York  State 
field  men  appeared  on  the  floor  of  the  convention  and 
modestly  asked  that  the  experiment  might  be  entrusted  to  them 
of  making  the  rates  in  New  York  State.  The  matter,  of  course, 
in  the  light  of  the  history  of  the  Exchange,  seems  absurd,  but 
suffice  it  to  say  that  the  very  proposition  met  with  the  most 
violent  opposition  from  a  number  of  leading  underwriters.  One 
gentleman,  prominent  then  in  insurance  circles,  as  he  is  today, 
was  especially  pronounced  in  his  opposition.  Present  then  as  I 
was,  as  a  young  special  agent,  the  remark  that  he  made  left  a 


60 

lasting  impression  on  my  memory.  Quoting  after  the  lapse  of 
years,  he  said  something  like  this:  "No  man  has  a  higher 
regard  for  special  agents  than  I ;  no  man  will  sing  louder  pagans 
to  the  worth  of  a  special  agent  than  I ;  but  before  I  will  con- 
sent that  the  special  agents  shall  make  rates  for  my  company,  I 
will  resign  my  position." 

Gentlemen,  he  has  never  resigned.  Ten  years  of  your  his- 
tory has  shown  that  the  rate-making  power  has  been  entrusted  to 
the  specials  of  New  England,  and  the  highest  compliment  that 
could  be  paid  to  your  success  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  entire  ter- 
ritory east  of  that  controlled  by  the  Western  Union,  and  north  of 
that  controlled  by  the  Southeastern  Tariff  Association — through- 
out that  entire  territory  the  only  rate-making  power  today  is,  in 
fact,  the  special  agent,  with  the  exception,  I  should  say,  of  a  few 
cities.  We  presume,  gentlemen,  that  none  of  you  have  laid 
claim  to  infallibility  in  your  work.  It  is  happy  for  us  that  such 
has  been  the  fact  with  you,  for  were  it  otherwise  we  presume 
that  you  would  all  be,  today,  at  the  Vatican  and  not  here  in  New 
England  and  we  enjoying  your  services. 

But  this  rate-making  power,  which  up  to  that  time  was  an  un- 
known quantity  in  the  special  agent,  and  now  has  become  so 
common  and  so  much  a  matter  of  course  that  it  seems  almost  a 
matter  of  ancient  history  to  refer  to  it,  is  by  no  means  the  only 
element  that  makes  up  the  constituency  of  the  special  agent,  li^ 
your  fits  of  modesty, .gentlemen,  did  you  ever  investigate  your- 
selves and  see  the  variety  of  phases  which  you  present  ?  It 
sometimes  seems  to  me  that  as  you  turn  the  kaleidoscope,  and  at 
every  moment  new  forms  appear,  so  in  the  multitude  of  work 
and  the  variety  of  duties  thrown  upon  the  special  agent,  at  every 
turn  of  the  special  agent  you  discover  new  elements  which 
are  prominent  in  his  character.  And  as  the  crystal  from 
every  face  flashes  a  new  gleam  of  light,  it  seems  to  me 
that  the  special,  called  upon  as  he  is  today  to  occupy 
so  many  positions,  from  each  new  position  he  assumes  displays 
a  new  ability.  The  commissioner  has  well  spoken  of  the  enor- 
mous strides  with  which  our  business  has  advanced.  We  have 


61 

to  admit  that  of  the  great  number  of  thousands  of  dollars  paid  in 
New  England,  it  is  almost  entirely  paid  through  your  hands. 
Upon  your  good  judgment  or  your  failure  in  judgment,  as  it 
may  be,  depend  frequently  the  most  unpleasant  lawsuits  and  the 
most  troublesome  litigations  into  which  companies  are  thrown. 
And  to  your  own  good  judgment  in  the  settlement  of  so  many 
cases  is  due  the  fact  that  so  few  lawsuits  do  occur. 

Again,  I  do  not  know  that  the  special  agent  has  ever  disputed 
with  nature  her  axiom  that  two  bodies  cannot  occupy  the  same 
space  at  a  given  time  ;  but  from  my  observation  of  men  in  that 
capacity  I  know  you  have  endeavored  frequently  to  demonstrate 
the  fact  that  one  body  can  occupy  two  spaces  at  the  same  time. 
The  special,  today,  is  here  adjusting  a  loss,  tomorrow,  with  the 
stride  of  a  Bluebeard,  he  is  on  the  outskirts  of  New  York  State 
adjusting  the  accounts  of  an  insolvent  agent  before  the  other 
fellow  gets  there.  The  special  agent,  too,  is  supposed  to  be  the 
embodiment  of  all  information.  Of  values  you  are  supposed  to 
estimate  with  accuracy  from  that  of  a  cambric  needle  to  a  saw 
mill.  You  are  supposed  to  be  familiar  with  all  the  processes  of 
chemistry.  You  are  supposed  to  know  all  methods  of  manufac- 
ture, from  the  burning  of  lime  to  the  composition  of  nitro-glycer- 
ine,  and  there  is  no  compound  that  is  so  intricate  as  is  not 
supposed  to  be  within  your  ken,  from  the  component  parts  of 
Ayer's  sarsaparilla  to  the  mysteries  of  an  eariy  hotel  breakfast 
in  the  country. 

But,  gentlemen,  brevity  is  required  of  us  all.  To  do  justice  to 
the  qualities  of  a  special  agent  and  the  fidelity  with  which  lie 
discharges  his  duties  would  require  more  than  a  ten  minutes' 
speech.  The  rate-making  power  of  your  association  has  been 
supplemented  lately  by  a  duty  which  I  may  safely  say  is  the 
most  important  ever  assumed  by  any  underwriters'  organization. 
You  have  lately  assumed  the  role  of  a  legislator,  and  by  the 
promulgation  of  the  co-insurance  clause,  which  has  gone  forth 
from  your  halls  within  a  few  days,  you  have  taken  a  new  depar- 
ture, which  is  the  most  pronounced  and  upon  which  we  look  with 
the  most  interest  as  to  its  successful  termination  of  anything 


62 

which  has  characterized  your  history.  And  it  is  with  great 
interest  that  we  watch  the  results  that  shall  accrue  from  that 
measure.  You  remember  in  the  wandering  of  Ulysses  that 
Circe  told  him  that  in  his  crafts  he  must  avoid  on  the  left 
Charybdis,  which  in  venturing  too  near  would  swallow  him  up, 
or  in  approaching  too  near  to  the  right  to  Scylla  he  would  have 
seizures  made  which  would  greatly  deplete  his  numbers.  Now, 
gentlemen,  in  the  course  of  your  legislation  in  the  new  role 
which  you  have  assumed,  remember  that  there  is  no  position 
which  so  imperatively  requires  a  steady  compass  and  straight 
sailing  as  that  of  the  legislator.  On  the  one  hand  you  have  to 
contend  against  what  seems  to  be  ruin  to  your  companies ;  on 
the  other  hand  you  come  within  the  grasp  of  that  jealous  public 
which  is  ever  watchful  of  our  actions. 

But,  gentlemen,  this  topic  is  exhaustive;  it  is  more  than  is 
allowed  for  a  few  minutes  speech ;  it  calls  for  more  than  the 
opportunities  of  a  mere  response  to  a  toast  will  allow  me  to  say 
and  still  do  justice  to  you.  I  should  certainly  be  oblivious  to 
fifteen  of  the  happiest  years  of  my  life  in  which  I  served  as  a 
field  man,  associated  closely  and  most  happily  with  many  of  you 
who  are  assembled  about  this  table  tonight,  and  whose  bounty 
we  have  accepted,  and  for  whom  I  shall  gratefully  express  my 
recognition,  did  I  not  have  a  high  regard  for  the  special  agents 
of  Xew  England.  It  has  properly  been  said  that  from  Boston 
has  emanated  much  that  has  been  of  great  service  to  the  world. 
It  might  be  properly  said  that  from  Boston  emanated  the  first 
ideas  to  people  which  have  influenced  the  good  of  others. 
It  is  fitting,  then,  that  in  Boston  the  sessions  of  the  New 
England  Insurance  Exchange  should  convene  from  week  to 
week ;  that  from  those  sessions  should  go  forth  to  other  similar 
bodies  throughout  the  country  an  example  showing  a  careful 
discrimination  in  what  is  in  the  interests  of  our  business,  which 
is  mature  and  can  be  properly  followed  by  others.  And  sitting 
as  you  do  tonight  almost  within  the  shadow  of  the  old  belfry 
from  which  glimmered  the  lantern  of  Paul  Revere,  throwing 
intelligence  to  those  beyond,  it  is  fitting  that  from  your  associa- 


63 

tion,  convening  from  week  to  week  in  Boston,  should  emanate  a 
halo  which  in  itself  should  reflect  upon  the  intelligence  of  the 
New  England  special  agents  constituting  the  New  England 
Insurance  Exchange. 

Mr.  Sherman — "  The  Insurance  Library  Association  "  of 
Boston,  an  indispensable  adjunct  in  advancing  our  exchange 
work  and  promoting  our  individual  interests,  an  institution  that 
is  worthy  of  our  hearty  encouragement  and  earnest  support.  It 
gives  me  pleasure  to  introduce  to  this  assembly  the  president  of 
the  Insurance  Library  Association  of  Boston,  and  one  of  the 
vice-presidents  of  the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange,  Mr. 
Frederick  B.  Carpenter. 

REMARKS  OP  P,  B,  CARPENTER, 


Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  :  In  behalf  of  the  Insurance 
Library  Association  of  Boston,  which  I  have  the  honor  to 
represent,  I  thank  you  cordially.  As  the  membership  of  the 
Insurance  Library  Association  of  Boston  and  the  New  Eng- 
land Insurance  Exchange  is  virtually  the  same,  there  is  very 
little  that  I  can  say  to  the  members.  But  I  take  this  opportunity, 
Mr.  President,  to  add  to  your  welcome  to  the  honored  guests  here 
assembled  this  evening  by  inviting  them  to  do  us  the  honor  of  a 
personal  visit  to  our  library  rooms  during  their  stay  in  the  city. 
Gentlemen,  your  presence  will  cheer  us  and  the  trustees  will 
give  you  a  hearty  welcome.  I  thank  you,  gentlemen. 

Mr.  Sherman — "  The  New  England  Bureau  of  United  Inspec- 
tion," its  intelligent  and  efficient  work  its  highest  commenda- 
tion. We  will  introduce  as  respondent  to  this  toast  an  honorary 
member  of  our  Exchange,  a  gentleman  whose  uniform  courtesy 
and  urbanity  while  an  active  member  and  president  of  our  organ- 
ization won  our  universal  respect  and  esteem,  and  whose  promo- 
tion to  the  managerial  chair  excited  not  our  envy  but  strengthened 
our  personal  regard  and  personal  admiration.  A  gentleman 
whose  business  career  in  our  midst  well  illustrates  the  truth  of 


64 

one  of  Solomon's  proverbs:  "The  hand  of  the  diligent  shall 
bear  rule  "  Mr.  George  P.  Field,  president  of  the  organization 
which  we  have  toasted  and  one  of  the  managers  for  New  Eng- 
land of  the  Royal  Insurance  Company. 

EEMAEKS  OP  GEOEGE  P,  HELD, 


Mr.  Toastm aster ;  So  far  as  the  very  flattering  introduc- 
tion you  give  me  applies  to  the  organization  I  represent, 
I  accept  it.  So  far  as  it  applies  to  me  individually,  I  feel  very 
much  as  I  imagine  that  small  boy  did  when  he  went  down  with 
his  father  to  get  an  overcoat  and  heard  the  salesman  tell  the 
father  that  "the  coat  vas  a  shplendid  fit,  but  the  tarn  boy  vas  too 
shmall.1' 

I  am  here  tonight  not  only  in  my  capacity  as  the  chairman  of 
the  governing  committee  of  the  New  England  Bureau  of  United 
Inspection — a  most  sonorous  title,  I  want  you  to  understand  that 
— but  also  as  a  kicker.  I  am  not  going  to  try  to  ring  in  on  you 
that  old  moth-eaten  chestnut  that  I  didn't  expect  to  be  called  upon 
and  am  not  prepared,  because  I  have  got  a  most  beautiful  oration, 
typewritten,  in  my  pocket,  like  these  other  gentlemen.  But 
before  I  deliver  it  I  want  to  make  a  little  personal  explanation. 
When  this  "debauch"  was  finally  determined  upon  and  the 
beautiful  four-sheet  posters  were  sent  out,  I  was  waited  upon  by 
the  governing  committ.ee  and  told  that  I  was  to  attend  as  an  ex- 
president  of  the  association  and  that  I  was  to  respond  to  a  senti- 
ment in  regard  to  the  associations  and  memories  that  linger 
around  the  ten  years  of  our  organization — a  kind  of  a  Mark  Antony 
address  over  lots  of  dead  Cassars.  Well,  I  expended  a  good  deal 
of  gray  matter  in  getting  up  that  oration.  The  eulogies  of  the 
departed  members  would  have  brought  tears  to  the  e}res  of  the 
waiters ;  the  eulogies  on  those  of  you  who  are  alive  the  most 
hardened  old  jester  in  the  "  gang  "  would  blush  to  read. 

But  just  as  I  got  that  done,  enter  the  committee ;  they  had 
found  that  they  had  gone  long  on  ex-presidents  but  they  were 
mighty  short  on  managers  of  kindred  organizations,  and  they 


65 

would  run  me  in  as  chairman  of  the  inspection  bureau  or  presi- 
dent of  the  protective.  Well,  the  latter  was  a  soft  snap,  because 
I  have  a  speech  as  the  president  of  the  protective  department  that 
is  a  perfect  daisy.  The  last  time  I  delivered  it,  at  the  Revere 
House,  before  the  Barnicoat  Veterans,  I  brought  down  the  house 
and  a  quantity  of  crockery  at  the  same  time  off  from  the  side- 
board, against  which  some  one  was  leaning. 

But  as  chairman  of  the  bureau  I  never  have  had  occasion  to 
speak,  and  I  started  out  on  a  lot  of  statistics.  I  was  going  to 
show  you  the  percentage  of  sprinkled  risks  to  unsprinkled  risks, 
the  percentage  of  loss  per  sprinkler  head  in  the  United  States, 
the  percentage  of  risks  that  we  inspect  that  don't  burn,  and  lots 
of  other  things.  I  got  pretty  well  along,  and  it  occurred  to  me 
if  I  could  get  some  figures  from  the  mutuais  for  comparative 
purposes  it  would  be  a  grand,  good  idea.  So  I  went  up  into  the 
temple  on  Milk  street  and  interviewed  the  high  priest,  Hon. 
Edward  Atkinson,  president  of  the  Boston  Manufacturers1  Mut- 
ual, and  told  him  what  1  was  going  to  do,  and  he  said, 
"  Don't.  When  I  was  a  young  man  I  had  a  little  leaning 
towards  statistics,  and  I  wrote  two  or  three  papers,  and  finally 
one  of  them  was  criticised,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  critic  was 
this:  'There  are  lies,  and  d — d  lies,  and  statistics.'  So,"  he 
said,  "  if  I  were  in  your  place  I  wouldn't  tackle  it  in  the  super- 
lative degree."  And  I  thought  he  was  about  right,  and  the  con- 
sequence was  that  that  speech  I  was  going  to  make  to  you  I  am 
going  to  publish  as  my  annual  report  of  the  inspection  bureau, 
and  you  gentlemen  can  all  read  it  when  you  are  sober,  and  it 
will  do  you  a  great  deal  more  good  than  it  would  tonight. 

But  there  is  one  thing  that  I  do  want  to  say  in  all  seriousness 
as  a  Boston  underwriter,  as  one  whose  interests  are  entirely  in 
New  England,  who  has  been,  I  may  say,  one  of  the  charter 
members  of  the  Exchange  and  somewhat  prominently  identified 
with  its  earlier  career,  and  that  is  to  thank  these  gentlemen  from 
abroad  who  have  left  their  desks  at  this  very  busy  time  in  the 
year  to  come  here  and  be  with  us,  because  it  can  only  be  taken 
as  an  expression  of  the  confidence  they  feel  in  the  work  of  the 


66 

Exchange  and  as  an  evidence  of  good  will  towards  us.  I  know 
myself  how  hard  it  is ;  we  are  all  of  us  overwhelmed  with  work 
in  the  attempt  to  answer  those  irrelevant  conundrums  that  my 
bald-headed  old  friend  over  there  (Commissioner  Merrill)  with 
the  other  commissioners  of  the  various  states  fire  at  us  at  this 
time  of  the  year,  and  it  really  means  a  great  deal  for  these 
gentleman  to  come  from  these  other  cities  over  here  to  meet  the 
New  England  Insurance  Exchange,  and  I  most  cordially  thank 
them,  as  I  know  you  all  do.  And  now,  Mr.  President,  incident- 
ally remarking  that  if  you  have  found  out  anything  about  the 
New  England  Bureau  of  Inspection,  it  is  not  my  fault,  I  am 
done. 

Mr.  Sherman — "The  Insurance  Press,"  the  handmaid  of 
insurance,  its  safest  guide,  its  strongest  friend,  and  its  most 
earnest  and  loyal  ally.  The  press  is  a  wonderful  diffuser  and 
promoter  of  popular  intelligence,  and  the  great  Webster  once 
said,  "  The  intelligence  of  the  people  is  the  security  of  society." 
To  respond  to  this  sentiment  we  will  call  upon  a  gentleman  who 
needs  no  introduction,  our  friend,  the  editor  of  THE  STANDARD, 
Col.  C.  M.  Ransom  of  Boston. 

KEMARKS  OF  0,  M,  KANSOM, 


Gentlemen  :  I  congratulate  myself  on  the  good  fortune  which 
enables  me  to  be  with  you  this  evening  and  desire  to  express  my 
thanks,  both  for  the  privilege  and  pleasure  of  participating  in 
this  intellectual  feast  and  in  the  good  cheer  which  prevails 
around  this  fraternal  and  hospitable  board,  and  in  which  all 
present  seem  most  cordially  to  join  in  properly  celebrating  the 
tenth  anniversary  of  one  of  the  most  intelligently  managed  and 
most  successful  underwriting  organizations,  considering  its 
scope,  in  our  land — the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange. 

The  advance  in  individual  life  is,  in  our  thoughts,  marked  by 
decades,  so  too,  is  it  noted  in  domestic  life,  and  in  a  public  way 
the  growth  of  municipal  life — state  and  national — is  chronicled 


67 

by  comparison  by  decades.  Following  this  rule  it  is  highly  appro- 
priate that  this  body  should  celebrate  its  first  decade — its  tin 
wedding— in  this  delightful  and  interesting  manner,  and  my  first 
thought  comes  to  me  in  words  of  congratulation  and  satisfaction 
in  the  prosperity  of  the  past,  and  the  future  promises  for  good 
which  are  foretold  by  this  assemblage  on  this  anniversary  night. 

The  success  of  the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange  is  clue 
to  the  tact,  good  judgment,  patient  perseverance,  and  marked 
ability  of  its  members,  and  to  the  intelligent  performance  of  their 
duties  are  we  indebted  for  the  greatly  improved  condition  of  the 
business  of  fire  underwriting  in  New  England,  as  well  as  for  the 
pace  they  have  set  for  fire  underwriters  in  other  sections  of  the 
country.  It  is  but  just  and  proper,  then,  in  view  of  this  public 
service  that  you  gentlemen,  the  officers  and  managers  of  fire  in- 
surance companies  represented  in  this  field,  and  coming  from 
different  sections,  should  lend  the  encouraging  sanction  of  your 
presence  on  this  occasion  in  honorable  recognition  of  the  good 
results  that  have  been  accomplished  by  your  servants.  But  I  am 
straying  from  the  subject  assigned  me — the  Insurance  Press — 
and  trust  you  will  pardon  this  brief  digression. 

It  is  always  a  pleasure  to  speak  of  the  press,  in  any  of  its 
multifarious  and  important  relations  to  society  for  its  common 
good,  and  on  this  occasion  I  desire  to  speak  of  it  as  it  should  be 
from  my  point  of  observation.  The  general  press  should  be  the 
intelligent  leader  of  public  sentiment  toward  a  better  and  a 
higher  civilization  ;  the  educator  of  the  young  in  all  those  nobler 
elements  which  constitute  good  citizenship ;  the  sentinel  upon  the 
outer  wall  to  warn  community  of  approaching  political  or  social 
dangers ;  the  power,  when  occasion  requires,  which  can  make 
or  unmake  men  and  nations ;  the  shield  and  protector  of  the  law- 
abiding  citizen,  and  a  terror  to  the  evil-doer,  hence,  only  men 
with  pure  hearts  and  clean  hands,  men  of  the  highest  character 
and  noblest  impulses  should  direct  and  control  its  utterances. 
All  these  high  moral  attributes  and  requirements  of  the  general 
press  belong  by  right  to  the  insurance  press,  in  its  varied  and 
responsible  relations  to  insurance,  and  its  teachings  and  prac- 


68 

tices  should  be  such  as  to  commend  it  not  only  to  the  underwrit- 
ing fraternity,  but  to  the  public  as  well ;  in  brief,  it  should  be 
the  handmaid  of  insurance,  its  safest  guide,  its  strongest  friend, 
and  its  most  earnest  and  loyal  ally.  It  should  be  an  independent 
press,  devoted  exclusively  to  its  legitimate  field,  commending 
when  commendation  is  deserved,  and  criticising  in  a  dignified, 
friendly,  but  impressive  manner  whenever  and  wherever  such 
criticism  will  advance  the  best  interests  of  insurance,  without  in 
any  way  being  influenced  by  fear  or  favor,  since  a  just  and  fair 
criticism  is  always  for  the  best  interests  of  any  association  or 
business,  while  an  unfair  and  uncalled  for  criticism  is  never 
justified  under  any  circumstances.  Its  expressions  should  be 
able,  fearless,  and  at  the  same  time  considerate  of  the  feelings, 
sentiments,  and  interests  of  others,  and  above  all  it  should  be 
high  minded,  always  truthful,  and  should  never  fail  to  appre- 
ciate the  responsible  duties  of  its  high  vocation. 

In  order  to  meet  these  essential  requirements  each  member  of 
the  insurance  press  should  be  a  walking  encyclopedia  of  insurance 
lore,  ever  active  in  seeking  the  latest  news,  data,  and  information 
for  the  enlightenment  and  guidance  of  those  engaged  in  the 
great,  growing,  and  important  business  of  underwriting,  and 
while  he  seeks  in  a  modest,  unassuming  way  to  instruct  his 
readers  in  correct  principles  and  practices,  and  to  warn  them 
against  the  opposite,  he  should  at  the  same  time  seek  to  build  up, 
and  not  destroy,  the  cause  he  is  in  duty  bound  to  protect  and 
perpetuate.  As  in  olden  times  the  beacon  lights  on  the  moun- 
tain tops  flashed  out  their  signals  for  the  guidance  of  the 
people  in  the  valley,  so  should  the  insurance  press  lighten  the 
pathway  of  all  engaged  in  this  wide-extended,  exacting,  and 
honorable  business.  Personalities  engendered  by  ill  feeling, 
jealousy,  or  spite  should  have  no  part  or  place  in  its  columns,  nor 
should  encouragement  be  given  to  stirring  up  strife  and  animosity 
among  companies  and  agents.  The  true  sentiment  which  should 
prevail  with  all  its  members,  as  well  as  with  the  members  of 
your  fraternity,  is  most  fittingly  illustrated  by  the  following  lines 
from  Sheldon : 


69 

"  In  sweet'ning  the  life  of  another, 
In  relieving  a  brother's  distress, 
The  soul  finds  it  highest  advancement, 
And  the  noblest  blessedness. 

That  life  is  alone  worth  the  living 
That  lives  for  another's  gain, 
The  life  that  comes  after  such  living, 
Is  the  rainbow  after  the  rain." 

Gentlemen,  let  us  set  our  mark  high,  and  strive  in  accordance 
with  these  noble  sentiments  to  sweeten  the  lives  of  others,  and 
thus  obtain  a  full  view  of  the  rainbow  after  the  rain.  In  order 
that  the  insurance  press  can  be  fully  equipped  to  best  serve  the 
interests  of  the  cause  it  advocates,  it  should  be  respected,  recog- 
nized, and  encouraged  by  those  whom  its  mission  is  to  serve.  As 
between  members  of  the  insurance  fraternity  and  those  of  the 
insurance  press,  there  should  exist  the  utmost  confidence ;  counsel 
should  be  freely  sought  and  as  freely  given  by  each,  since  each, 
if  honest  to  his  calling,  to  community,  and  himself,  is  striving  to 
accomplish  the  same  desirable  result — the  greatest  good  to  the 
greatest  number. 

This  may  not  be  the  day  of  an  ideal  insurance  press,  but  both 
observation  and  experience  furnish  unmistakable  evidence  that 
we  are  much  nearer  that  goal  than  we  were  a  decade  ago.  To 
it  has  come  better  thought  and  better  practices,  and  more  mid- 
night oil  is  being  consumed  in  a  closer  study  of  the  science  and 
intricacies  of  insurance  in  all  its  branches  than  in  the  past,  and 
while  we  have  not,  and  never  may  reach  the  millenium  in  our 
profession,  we  are  still  improving,  and  our  progress  along  that 
line  we  sincerely  trust  will  be  constantly  accelerated  and  not  in 
any  way  impeded.  The  history  of  the  insurance  press  has 
become  the  history  of  insurance ;  the  two  arc  so  intimately 
interwoven  with  each  other  that  the  growth  and  progress  of  one 
has  become  the  synonym  of  strength  and  prosperity  of  both. 

What  the  insurance  press  most  needs,  gentlemen,  is,  I  repeat, 
your  respect,  your  confidence,  and  your  encouragement  for  still 
higher  and  nobler  aims ;  your  condemnation  of  the  wrong,  and 
your  commendation  of  the  right  in  its  practices  ;  its  full  recog- 


70 

nition  as  your  co-laborer  in  the  great  field  of  insurance,  and  the 
free  bestowment  of  your  best  and  wisest  counsel.  Then,  and  not 
till  then,  will  it  be  prepared  to  render  to  your  profession  its  best 
and  highest  service.  In  closing,  please  permit  me  to  quote,  as 
equally  applicable  to  you  and  me,  in  our  future  life  work,  this 
beautiful  sentiment  of  the  late  poet,  the  sainted  Whittier : 

"  We  shape  ourselves  the  joy  or  fear, 

Of  which  the  coming  life  is  made, 
And  fill  our  future  atmosphere 

With  sunshine  or  with  shade. 

The  tissue  of  the  life  to  be 

We  weave  with  colors  all  our  own, 
And  in  the  field  of  destiny 

We  reap  as  we  have  sown." 

Mr.  Sherman — "  Insurance  Companies  and  Their  Agents." 
The  local  agent  is  a  mighty  factor  in  the  conduct  of  our  busi- 
ness and  on  no  one  element  are  its  successful  and  satisfactory 
results  more  dependent.  I  am  much  pleased  to  introduce  a 
gentleman  of  extended  experience  in  the  home  office  of  a  leading 
agency  company,  who  is  well  qualified  to  speak  wisely  and  well 
to  this  toast,  Mr.  J.  H.  Washburn,  vice-president  of  the  Home 
Insurance  Company  of  New  York. 

REMARKS  OP  J.  H,  WASHBURN, 


Mr.  President,  Mr.  Toastmaster,  and  Gentlemen:  It  is  un- 
fortunate for  me  that  you  have  short  memories.  If  you  had 
remembered  with  what  a  large  auger  I  bored  this  New 
England  Exchange  at  their  dinner  nine  years  ago,  I  am 
sure  you  never  would  have  asked  me  to  repeat  the  dose.  But 
you  appear  to  have  forgotten,  for  you  have  asked  me  to  come 
again.  I  hate  to  write  and  I  don't  keep  a  typewriter  ;  the  con- 
sequence is,  I  haven't  any  written  speech,  and  you  must  take  what 
you  can  get. 

Horace  Greeley  wrote  two  big  volumes  to  tell  what  he  didn't 
know  about  farming;.  If  I  were  to  tell  you  all  I  do  know  about 


71 

insurance  companies  and  agents,  I  am  afraid  your  toastmaster 
would  call  me  down  long  before  I  got  through,  for  I  have  had  a 
very  long  acquaintance  with  both.  Let  me  say  first,  I  believe 
there  is  no  class  of  corporations  where  integrity  has  been  more 
noted  and  where  a  failure  of  integrity  has  been  more  seldom 
noticed  than  in  the  insurance  companies  of  this  country.  Let  me 
say  further,  I  know  of  no  class  of  men  representing  the  interests 
of  others  far  away  from  them,  under  not  the  master's  eye,  far 
away  from  the  reach  of  the  home  office,  where  those  interests 
have  been  so  faithfully  cared  for,  where  there  has  been  less  oc- 
casion for  complaint  of  the  misuse  of  the  powers  entrusted  to  the 
agent  than  we  find  among  the  thousands  of  insurance  agents 
throughout  our  land. 

There  are  many  things  in  that  direction  which  I  might  say. 
But  I  want  to  say  one  word  about  the  relations  which  do  exist 
and  should  exist  between  the  companies  and  their  agents.  If 
the  golden  rule  were  the  guide  of  all  our  lives,  there  would  be 
no  question  what  those  relations  are  or  should  be.  If  we  all,  at 
both  ends  of  the  line,  remembered  that  our  interests  are  com- 
mon, that  there  can  be  nothing  for  the  lasting  interest  of  the 
agent  that  is  not  for  the  interest  of  the  company,  there  would  be 
no  occasion  for  misunderstandings  between  agents  and  their 
companies.  But  we  are  human,  Mr.  President;  we  can  all 
make  mistakes.  We  can  all  forget  that  in  seeking  the  interests 
of  our  principal  we  are  promoting  our  own.  We  are  too  apt  to 
look  in  a  small  circle  at  what  is  close  to  us  and  forget  the  great 
and  lasting  interests ;  and  out  of  that  grows  the  misunderstand- 
ing, grow  all  the  difficulties  that  arise  between  the  corporations 
and  their  agents. 

As  between  agents  themselves,  misunderstandings  occasionally 
arise.  They  lap  over  sometimes  and  tread  on  one  another's  toes. 
An  old  divine  once,  in  speaking  of  the  differences  between  the 
various  denominations  of  Christians,  said  that  as  he  went  about 
among  his  people  he  found  there  was  nothing  that  so  contributed 
to  good  neighborhood  among  the  farmers  as  a  strong  five-rail 
fence.  I  believe  that  nothing  is  better  calculated  to  promote  and 


72 

conserve  friendly  relations  between  companies  and  their  agents 
than  thoroughly  to  define  their  fields,  cutting  them  apart  by  that 
strong  five- rail  fence,  and  never  allowing  a  trespass  in  that  field. 
And  I  would  say  that  the  same  practice  should  exist  as  between 
the  companies  themselves  and  their  agents :  they  should  not 
tread  on  an  agent's  toes,  nor  write  a  risk  over  his  head. 

If  agents  would  remember  that  as  a  rule  their  experience  is  in 
a  limited  field,  in  a  limited  class  of  business,  that  their  principals 
survey  the  whole  field  and  have  the  benefit  of  a  long  and  large 
and  wide  experience  and  n\ay  reasonably  be  expected  to  judge 
more  carefully  and  correctly  of  the  character  of  the  business 
desirable  for  them  to  write  than  the  agent  can  possibly  do  from 
his  limited  point  of  view,  they  would  be  less  restive  under  the 
criticisms  they  receive ;  they  would  remember  that  the  company 
furnishing  the  capital,  paying  the  losses,  bearing  all  the  respon- 
sibility, knowing  best  what  the  character  of  the  business  is  and 
should  be,  can  judge  better  how  the  risk  should  be  written  and 
what  should  be  written  and  when  and  how  much  and  on  what 
terms,  they  would  less  often  subject  themselves  to  unpleasant 
criticisms.  Each  company  has  its  own  standard,  and  after  a 
little  each  agent  comes  to  learn  what  his  company  wants,  and  an 
agent  who  is  wise  and  judicious  and  desires  to  maintain  pleasant 
relations  with  his  principal  will  be  careful  how  he  offers  or 
forces  upon  his  company  risks  which,  however  desirable  they 
seem  to  him,  however  desirable  he  knows  they  may  be  to  some 
other  companies,  he  has  reason  to  believe  are  distasteful  and  re- 
garded as  undesirable  by  any  one  company  whose  policy  he 
wishes  to  write. 

Some  agents  have  a  way — you  all  know  how  it  is — there  are 
some  risks  that  these  agents  have  that  we  get  to  know  as 
««  rounders."  They  will  be  offered  to  one  company  and  then  re- 
fused. The  policy  will  be  cancelled  and  placed  in  another  com- 
pany, and  so  sometimes  insurance  will  be  given  on  the  most 
undesirable  risk  in  an  agent's  field  in  every  company  he  has, 
running  over  weeks  and  perhaps  months,  for  which  no  company 
receives  any  compensation  and  for  which  each  in  turn  carries  an 


73 

undesirable  responsibility.  Is  that  fair  treatment  of  the  com- 
panies ?  And  yet  you  all  know  that  that  is  done  repeatedly. 

There  is  one  link  between  companies  and  their  agents  upon 
which  their  relations  and  their  character  largely  depend.  That 
link  you,  gentlemen,  in  this  field  supply.  The  special  agent  of 
the  company  is  the  connecting  link  between  the  agent  and  his 
company,  and  upon  his  character,  upon  his  manner,  upon  his 
method  of  treating  the  agents,  upon  the  mode  in  which  he  dis- 
charges his  duty,  rests  much  of  the  character  of  the  relation  be- 
tween the  companies  and  the  agents.  It  is  pleasant  to  stand 
here  and  look  you  in  the  face  and  say  that  as  far  as  I  know,  and 
my  experience  is  pretty  wide,  there  is  no  group  of  special  agents 
anywhere  who  discharge  that  duty  of  making  pleasant  relations 
between  companies  and  agents  better  than  those  who  are  repre- 
sented in  the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange. 

Now,  one  word  only.  I  want  to  take  down  a  little  bit  of  the 
boasting  that  I  hear  here.  Boston  is  the  centre  of  a  great  many 
things.  From  it  a  great  many  things  originate.  But  New  York 
is  not  entirely  behind  in  originating  good  things.  The  first  or- 
ganization of  underwriters,  the  first  attempt  at  schedule  rating, 
was  not  in  Boston  but  in  the  city  of  New  York,  much  as  you  may 
say  of  Boston's  influence  in  that  direction.  Away  back  before 
many  of  us — yes,  I  think  before  any  of  us  had  much  to  do  with 
underwriting — there  was  more  than  one  convention  held  in  New 
York,  and  rate  books  and  schedule  rates  were  issued  by  a  con- 
ference of  companies  gathered  together,  which  are  the  basis  and 
the  foundation  of  our  ratings  today.  And  good  as  the  work  of 
the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange  has  been,  early  as  it  was 
in  the  field,  the  Western  Underwriters'  Association  antedates  it. 
As  a  rating  institution  it  has  passed  its  usefulness,  but  still  main- 
tains its  organization,  and  is  today  a  useful  disseminator  of 
insurance  knowledge.  There  is  in  the  West  an  association  which 
is  a  rating  organization,  which  is  a  power  throughout  the  States 
where  it  exerts  its  influence,  which  by  some  years  antedates  the 
New  England  Exchange,  and  that  is  the  Union — today  perhaps 
as  powerful  an  organization  for  good  for  underwriters  as  any 


74 

that  exists  in  the  country.  I  say  not  this  to  detract  at  all  from 
the  merit  of  the  Exchange,  but  as  a  representative  of  the  Union, 
as  one  who  was  honored  by  being  for  more  than  two  terms  its 
president,  I  cannot  allow  you  to  claim  the  honor  of  being  the 
first  of  the  present  existing  organizations  of  the  kind  in  this 
country. 

And  now,  gentlemen,  let  me  say  one  word  more,  and  I  am 
through.  I  won't  tax  you  too  long,  Mr.  Toastmaster.  There  is 
nothing  in  my  judgment  that  does  more  to  promote  the  pleasant 
relations  which  should  exist  between  companies  and  their  agents 
than  gatherings  like  this  tonight.  When  we  meet  and  break 
bread  together  and  look  one  another  in  the  face,  we  do  much  to 
cement  those  relations  which  should  exist  between  us.  We  do 
more,  I  believe,  than  we  can  do  in  any  other  way.  And  for  this 
reason  I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  inviting  me  to  be  present  to- 
night. It  has  given  me  great  pleasure  to  meet  you  and  to  look 
into  your  faces. 

Mr.  Sherman — ««  Underwriters  and  the  Insuring  Public."  The 
interests  of  the  insuring  public  and  the  companies  are  identical. 
The  better  the  mutual  understanding,  the  greater  the  mutual 
confidence.  We  are  pleased  to  introduce  to  respond  to  this  senti- 
ment a  gentleman  of  New  England  parentage  and  culture,  the 
able  and  genial  president  of  the  Phenix  Insurance  Company  of 
New  York,  Mr.  George  P.  Sheldon. 

EEMAEKS  OP  QEOEGE  P,  SHELDON, 


Mr.  President,  Mr.  Toastmaster,  and  Gentlemen :  If  the 
public  at  lar^e  could  have  been  brought  here  tonight  and 
could  have  listened  to  the  sentiments  that  have  been  expressed 
here,  if  they  could  have  listened  to  the  record  of  the  work 
of  this  organization,  if  they  could  have  heard  the  feelings 
expressed  here  of  the  responsibility  felt  for  yourselves  in  the 
work  in  which  you  have  been  engaged  for  ten  years ;  if  even 
next  to  that,  they  could  have  a  transcript  presented  to  them 


75 

which  would  faithfully  express  the  spirit,  not  alone  of  this 
gathering,  but  of  your  work  during  this  ten  years,  it  would  not 
be  necessary  in  any  formal  way  to  speak  to  the  sentiment  which 
has  been  assigned  to  me,  of  the  relations  of  underwriters  and 
the  insuring  public. 

I  look  back  with  great  pleasure  to  my  first  introduction  to  the 
New  England  Insurance  Exchange.  It  is  the  first  underwriting 
organization  that  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  presented  to.  and 
from  that  introduction  I  have  followed  the  work  of  the  Exchange 
very  closely  through  the  past  five  years.  It  seems  to  me  that  at 
the  foundation  of  your  work  you  started  on  the  right  track  when 
you  were  ready  to  disseminate  information — information  which 
would  be  valuable  to  the  public  at  large  and  enable  them  to 
understand  better  than  they  had  understood  before  these  relations 
which  exist  between  them  and  the  underwriting  companies.  I 
think  that  the  work  that  you  have  done  here  in  this  field  during 
the  past  ten  years  has  accomplished  more  in  bringing  together 
the  companies  and  the  public  than  has  been  done  in  any  other 
field,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes.  As  you  have  come  face  to 
face  with  the  parties  to  whom  you  have  delivered  policies  from 
time  to  time,  as  you  have  discussed  with  them  from  your  intelli- 
gent standpoint  the  relations  that  exist  and  which  suggest  to  you 
the  business  contract  that  finally  results  between  the  company 
and  the  insured,  you  have  dissipated  all  the  prejudices  and  many 
of  the  misapprehensions  that  have  resulted  in  the  unfortuate, 
unjust  and  disastrous  legislation  which  prevails  throughout 
many  departments.  If  there  is  one  spirit  that  has  prevailed  here 
in  this  field  it  seems  to  me  it  is  the  spirit  of  co-operation. 

As  one  listened  here  tonight  to  the  history  of  the  organization 
of  this  Exchange,  he  could  not  have  failed  of  being  impressed 
with  the  great  influence  of  that  spirit  when  this  Exchange 
started.  You  felt  the  need  of  one  another's  help,  and  you  at  the 
same  time  recognized  the  fact  that,  differences  as  there  were 
between  you,  there  were  principles  upon  which  you  could  unite 
and  engage  together  in  this  work.  And  when  once  that  spirit  of 
co-operation  was  firmly  established  among  yourselves,  the  next 


76 

step  was  to  extend  that  same  co-operation  from  the  underwriters 
to  the  public.  One  step  naturally  suggested  the  other,  and  when 
the  first  was  taken  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  take  the  second. 
Why  is  it,  that  when  you  decide  to  establish  the  principle  of  co- 
insurance there  is  scarcely  a  ripple  all  through  your  field,  the 
community  at  large  saying,  after  the  education  that  they  have 
had  at  your  hands  for  so  many  years,  "  We  recognize  the  voice 
of  this  Exchange;  we  have  known  them  and  watched  their  work 
during  these  years;  we  believe  that  this  principle  expresses  their 
best  judgment,  looking  not  simply  at  the  interest  of  the  com- 
panies, but  looking  at  the  interests  of  the  public  as  well ;  and, 
having  that  confidence  in  their  judgment,  we  accept  this  principle 
of  co-insurance  ;  we  will  adopt  it,  cause  it  to  enter  into  our  rela- 
tions with  the  companies,  and  we  believe  that  it  will  result  in 
good,  not  simply  to  the  companies,  but  also  to  the  community  at 
large." 

The  honored  commissioner  of  the  Massachusetts  insurance 
department  lias  referred  to  this  enormous  loss  that  has  come 
upon  the  companies  during  the  past  two  years.  Now,  if  those 
facts  in  regard  to  the  terrible  losses  could  be  spread  abroad  in 
the  same  spirit  that  they  were  referred  to  here  tonight,  by  the 
officers  of  similar  departments  throughout  the  country,  that  of 
itself  would  be  a  very  valuable  assistance  to  us  in  our  business. 
It  is  our  duty  to  furnish  this  information ;  it  is  our  duty  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact,  as  has  been  so  well  expressed  by  him,  that 
the  companies  are  merely  the  distributors  of  the  premiums  con- 
tributed by  the  insured,  and  that  if  they  are  to  have  security  and 
indemnity  furnished  by  the  companies,  why,  the  companies  have 
got  to  collect  just  so  much  from  them  ;  they  have,  therefore,  the 
principal  interest  in  doing  what  they  can  to  reduce  and  to 
eliminate  these  enormous  losses.  Now  when  we  explain  the 
matter  in  this  way,  when  we  show  to  them  that  according  as 
these  losses  run  premiums  must  be  secured,  then  will  they, 
possibly  not  cheerfully  at  first,  but  when  their  intelligent  judg- 
ment acts  they  will  accept  the  suggestions  as  to  what  the  proper 
rates  should  be. 


77 

Now  reference  has  been  made  here  from  time  to  time  to  the 
work  in  New  York ;  I  feel  very  much  as  the  last  speaker  does  in 
regard  to  that.  While  appreciating  the  great  work  that  has 
been  done  here,  there  is  work  also  done  from  New  York  as  a 
centre.  The  headquarters  of  the  national  board,  which  has  been 
referred  to  so  often  here  tonight,  are  in  New  York  City.  From 
those  headquarters  there  is  going  out  all  the  while  the  most 
valuable  information,  throughout  New  England,  throughout  the 
Middle  States,  throughout  the  South,  throughout  the  West — 
information  collected  by  the  companies  represented  through  the 
national  board.  The  information  when  it  is  collected  is  not  con- 
cealed in  the  archives  of  that  venerable  institution ;  it  is  sent 
out,  not  only  to  the  companies,  the  members,  but  where  the 
improvements  referred  to  are  sought  to  be  accomplished;  the 
requirements  are  submitted  to  the  proper  officials  in  the  various 
cities  and  towns  that  have  been  examined  by  our  inspector  and 
they  form  the  basis  for  the  results  that  we  want  to  accomplish 
there.  Until  they  know  the  defects  in  a  general  way,  they  will 
not  move  to  correct  them. 

Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  bring  them  up  sharply,  to  call 
public  attention  in  an  abrupt  way  to  these  deficiencies,  as  was 
lately  done  in  a  neighboring  city  to  New  York ;  and  what  was 
the  result  ?  The  mayor  of  that  city  asked  if  a  committee  of 
underwriters  would  meet  with  him  and  consult  as  to  these 
defects.  His  invitation  was  promptly  accepted  and  the  honored 
vice-president  of  the  Home  Insurance  Company,  in  an  interview 
which  did  not  last  many  minutes,  gave  that  official,  the  head  of 
the  city,  the  mayor,  the  chief  of  the  fire  department,  the  prin- 
cipal committee  of  the  city  council,  and  some  of  the  most 
influential  citizens,  more  information  with  regard  to  the  condi- 
tion of  thai  city,  with  reference  to  its  water  supply,  its  fire 
department,  its  equipment,  and  to  the  personnel  of  the  force, 
than  apparently  all  of  them  together  had  ever  conceived  of 
before.  When  that  interview  was  sought  there  was  that  large 
gathering  of  people  whose  views  had  been  reported  in  the  public 
press  before  in  condemnation  of  the  underwriters  for  insisting 


78 

on  a  25  per  cent  advance  of  certain  classes  of  risks  in  the  city  of 
Brooklyn ;  but  since  that  interview  was  held,  a  few  days  ago, 
the  tone  of  the  press  in  that  city  has  entirely  changed,  and  the 
condemnation  is  not  now  towards  the  underwriters,  but  they  are 
asking  their  officials  there,  "Why  do  these  things  exist?" 
When  once  we  establish  such  relations  as  that  with  municipal- 
ities, the  way  is  open  for  an  intelligent  adjustment  of  the  rela- 
tions between  such  a  community  and  the  underwriters. 

One  of  the  other  subjects  that  I  would  like  to  refer  to  very 
briefly — it  has  been  suggested  by  the  invitation  extended  to  me 
as  the  president  of  the  commission  compact — is  the  item  of 
expense  of  doing  our  business.  It  it  not  necessary  for  us  to 
dwell  long  on  that  subject.  I  think  that  we  would  all  admit  that 
for  the  past  ten  or  twelve  years  expenses  have  been  increasing 
at  a  rate  not  at  all  warranted  by  the  relations  existing  between 
the  underwriters  and  the  insuring  public.  It  became  necessary 
for  an  organization  to  be  effected  to  arrest  that  movement,  and 
when  once  an  organization  was  effected  to  arrest  it,  they  found 
it  could  not  be  arrested  except  by  taking  back  track.  And 
when  the  companies  through  their  executive  officers  came  to 
consider  the  matter,  they  were  compelled  by  the  necessity  of  the 
situation  to  look  it  squarely  in  the  face  and  to  say  that  not  only 
must  it  be  checked  where  it  was,  but  that,  recognizing  that  the 
business  could  stand  only  an  expense  of  15  per  cent  as  a  com- 
mission to  an  agent,  that  must  be  the  basis  for  the  future 
and  the  only  safe  basis  for  the  company  to  stand  upon.  Now, 
gentlemen,  I  am  very  glad  to  stand  here  tonight  and  to  recog- 
nize the  help  and  assistance  the  companies  have  had  through 
your  membership,  through  you  as  individuals,  in  bringing  about 
this  great  reform .  But  we  shall  fail  yet  of  our  duty  if  we  stop 
there.  We  believe  that  more  yet  can  be  done  in  the  way  of 
reducing  expenses  and  thus  enable  us  to  justify  ourselves  and 
put  ourselves  in  a  position  to  re-establish  the  public  in  our  con- 
fidence or  to  re-establish  ourselves  in  the  confidence  of  the 
public ;  to  bring  about  that  mutual  relation  which  we  all  want, 
which  will  enable  us  to  secure  an  adequate  return  for  the  policies 


79 

we  issue,  enabling  the  companies  to  be  strong,  at  the  same  lime 
to  be  just. 

I  do  not  propose  to  refer  to  any  further  details  about  that 
tonight,  but  simply  suggest  this  :  among  the  items  of  informa- 
tion that  the  public  are  entitled  to  have  is  a  plain  statement  of 
the  condition  of  companies.  We  have  learned  for  a  number  of 
years  to  rest  the  condition  of  the  company  entirely  upon  its 
formal  reports  to  the  departments  established  in  the  various 
states.  They  are  good  so  far  as  they  go.  There  are  organiza- 
tions that  have  not  been  required  in  some  states,  at  least,  even  to 
formally  report  to  the  departments  their  condition,  but  are  satis- 
fied to  go  before  the  insuring  public  pledging  their  ability  to  pay 
whatever  losses  may  be  actually  incurred,  and  beyond  that,  recog- 
nizing no  obligation  on  their  part  to  give  any  information  what- 
ever to  the  public.  We  all  know  that  a  company  that  is  doing 
business  must  not  only  be  prepared  to  pay  what  losses  may 
accrue,  but  also  must  be  prepared  to  return  to  the  living  policies 
the  portion  of  premium  which  we  say  is  unearned.  Now  there 
are  companies,  there  are  associations  that  seem  to  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  it  is  necessary  to  have  an  unearned  premium  fund  ; 
and  when  they  go  to  the  assured  and  present  their  policy  and 
submit  to  them  propositions  for  their  business,  they  forget  to 
set  forth  this  fact.  Now,  is  that  just  to  the  public  ?  Is  that  just 
to  the  companies  that  are  represented  around  these  tables,  that 
are  obliged  to  set  forth  to  the  last  detail  all  the  particulars  of 
their  business?  Will  the  insuring  public  long  submit  to  take  the 
policies  of  such  organizations  and  be  satisfied  with  only  the 
insufficient  information  which  is  given  out  in  regard  to  what  is 
back  of  them  ?  Have  we  any  duty  to  perform  in  that  particular  ? 
I  submit  the  matter  for  your  consideration,  leaving  it  here, 
standing  for  myself,  standing,  I  believe,  for  the  stock  under- 
writing interests,  when  I  say  that  recognizing  our  obligation  to 
make  this  full  and  explicit  statement,  we  have  the  right  to 
demand  of  others  that  they  shall  do  the  same. 

Gentlemen,  as  I  look  into  your  faces  here  tonight,  it  is  an 
inspiration  for  the  future.  If  the  same  intelligence  is  to  be 


80 

expended  in  the  future  that  has  been  in  the  past  and  on  the  same 
lines,  when  we  gather  here,  as  I  hope  we  all  may,  ten  years 
from  now,  and  look  one  another  again  in  the  face,  if  there  are 
any  misapprehensions  or  misunderstandings  now  existing 
between  underwriters  and  the  insuring  public,  I  feel  that  by 
that  time  they  will  have  all  disappeared  and  that  there  will  be 
such  a  co-operation  as  has  never  been  seen  in  this  country,  each, 
the  insurer  and  the  insured,  recognizing  their  mutual  obligations 
and  responsibilities  to  each  other. 

Mr.  Emerson — Gentlemen,  it  has  been  suggested  that  some 
of  our  venerable  friends  who  sit  at  the  other  end  of  the  hall 
would  perhaps  feel  like  leaving,  but  we  hope  they  will  remain 
with  the  boys  at  this  end,  who  propose  to  stay,  for  the  best  wine 
always  comes  last.  It  is  thought  best  to  omit  the  next  song  and 
proceed  with  the  programme. 

Mr.  Sherman — "  Schedule  Rating,"  the  only  scientific  basis 
for  the  fixing  of  the  premiums  by  fire  underwriters.  The  incep- 
tion of  all  great  improvements  in  any  enterprise  has  usually  hud 
its  origin  in  the  agitation  engendered  and  persistently  promoted 
by  some  one  individual,  who  has  often  been  called  a  ««  crank" 
and  his  favored  object  a  "  hobby"  In  the  end,  however,  the  in- 
dividual has  been  endorsed  and  his  scheme  adopted.  We  have 
with  us,  as  one  of  our  guests  this  evening,  a  gentleman,  perhaps 
we  should  say  the  gentleman,  who  has  for  many  years  made  a 
special  study  of  the  plan  of  schedule  rating,  and  has  been  the 
central  figure  in  the  discussion  concerning  it.  He  is  abundantly 
able  to  entertain  us  on  this  important  subject.  Gentlemen,  the 
president  of  the  Continental  Fire  Insurance  Company,  Mr.  F.  C. 
Moore. 

EEMAEKS  OP  P,  0,  MOOEE, 


Mr.  Toastmaster,  Mr.  President,  and  Gentlemen;  I  esteem 
it  a  great  privilege  to  speak  before  such  a  body  of  men.  I 
esteem  it  a  great  honor  that  the  New  England  Insurance  Ex- 
change thinks  it  worth  while  to  listen  to  what  I  have  to  say. 


81 

And  the  first  thing  I  have  to  say  is  this  :  That  throughout  nine 
years  of  the  decade  which  marks  the  history  of  this  organization, 
I  have  entertained  but  one  opinion,  and  that  is  that  it  is  the  most 
practical  and  able  underwriting  organization  in  the  United  States. 
The  territory  which  you  have  in  charge  is  a  peculiar  one.  It 
embraces,  I  believe,  every  known  hazard,  excepting,  possibly, 
quartz  mills  and  cotton  giiis,  and  I  could  not  pay  a  higher  com- 
pliment than  this — nor  could  I  say  anything  that  would  demon- 
strate the  truth  that  I  have  claimed  for  the  association  more  than 
this — that  with  such  splendid  opportunities  of  learning  all  the 
phases  of  this  business,  you  have  made  the  best  use  of  them. 

It  is  especially  fitting  that  before  the  New  England  Exchange 
I,  as  one  of  the  schedule  committee,  should  be  first  called  upon 
to  say  anything  about  it,  because  it  is  my  pleasant  duty  to  say 
tonight  that  but  for  the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  New  England 
Insurance  Exchange  the  universal  schedule  would  not  be  what 
it  is.  The  New  England  Exchange,  of  all  the  rating  organiza- 
tions of  the  country,  first  responded  to  the  call  for  help.  One 
of  the  ablest  men  that  we  could  have  had  on  that  small  origi- 
nal committee  of  four — a  man  who  never  shirked  any  of  the  hard 
work  connected  with  the  task — was  a  member  of  the  New  Eng- 
land Insurance  Exchange,  Mr.  Richards  of  Hartford.  The 
first  committee  appointed  as  a  co-operating  committee  was  that 
of  the  New  England  Exchange,  and  in  point  of  numbers  it  out- 
numbers any  other.  And  at  that  first  meeting  held  in  Hartford, 
which  lasted  three  days  and  nights,  I  think,  of  the  hottest  weather 
I  ever  experienced,  that  New  England  Exchange  committee 
was  there,  man  for  man,  and  on  the  only  occasion  when,  I  may 
modestly  state,  the  chairman  of  the  universal  committee  was  a 
few  minutes  late,  the  chairman  of  the  New  England  Exchange 
committee,  Mr.  Henry  R.  Turner,  was  present  and  called  the 
roll,  and  the  only  response  was  from  a  member  of  the  New 
England  Exchange,  Mr.  Henry  R.  Turner,  and  I  have  the  best 
evidence  of  the  fact  from  his  own  lips. 

In  the  brief  time  allotted  to  me  —  for  I  shall  not  disregard 
the  admonition  of  the  toastmaster  —  I  shall  have  little  oppor- 


82 

tunity  to  go  into  the  consideration  of  any  detail,  and  I  shall  be 
of  necessity  compelled  to  deal  with  generalities.  I  want  to  say 
this  for  that  schedule:  that  whether  it  be  right  or  wrong — and 
the  men  who  have  had  the  making  of  it  believe  it  is  very  nearly 
right  today — this  we  do  claim,  that  the  process  of  framing  it 
which  we  followed  was  the  only  correct  process  to  get  a  correct 
schedule ;  for  we  called  to  our  aid  the  counsel,  the  advice,  the 
knowledge  and  the  experience  of  the  men  of  the  continent,  and 
we  sent  every  proof  of  that  schedule,  so  far  as  I  was  able  to  col- 
lect the  names  of  the  underwriters  of  the  country,  to  every 
special  agent  of  every  company,  to  every  officer  of  every  com- 
pany, and  to  many  of  the  practical  local  agents  of  the  country, 
and  we  had  suggestions  from  Maine  to  California,  and  from 
England  as  well.  Now,  gentlemen,  it  has  been  said  that  that 
schedule  will  reduce  rates.  So  it  will.  If  it  did  not  reduce 
some  rates  in  this  country,  it  would  be  the  best  evidence  that  it 
was  not  right  nor  worth  listening;  to.  But  it  raises  rates  as  well, 
and  it  hopes  and  expects  to  do  this :  that  it  shall  not  charge  the 
faults  of  one  man's  risk  on  another  man's  risk  that  has  not 
faults. 

It  has  been  conceded  by  critics  that  it  was  at  least  educational. 
Indeed  it  is.  For  myself  I  would  not  take  thousands  of  dollars 
for  the  education  it  was  to  me  to  get  the  benefit  of  the  judgment 
and  advice  of  men  throughout  the  country  on  all  the  subjects  of 
which  that  schedule  treats.  It  has  been  a  fish  net,  with  meshes 
so  fine  that  it  drew  out  the  opinions  of  men  on  every  subject 
connected  with  the  construction  of  a  building,  the  cost  of  a  fire 
or  its  extinction.  Now,  gentlemen,  I  have  observed  this  fact : 
that  I  entered  upon  that  task  with  well  settled  ideas  on  matters 
which  I  thought  unimportant :  I  should  never  have  asked  any  man 
his  opinion  about  them.  And  but  for  this  process,  this  fish  net, 
so  to  speak,  which  drew  out  their  opinions,  I  never  would  have 
gotten  them,  and  I  would  have  died  in  ignorance  of  things  that 
I  supposed  I  understood.  Why,  in  the  meeting  at  New  York, 
on  one  occasion  there  was  debate  in  which  many  men  took  part, 
and  it  was  found  that  the  meeting  was  almost  evenly  divided, 


83 

although  there  was  a  decided  majority  on  a  point  that  involved  a 
question  of  only  5  per  cent,  and  those  who  thought  one  way 
convinced  those  who  thought  the  other  way,  so  that  when  the 
debate  was  over  they  were  all  of  one  mind. 

That  was  a  significant  fact.  But  I  observe  this  :  that  it  was 
not  thought  to  be  an  important  matter.  And  yet,  gentlemen, 
what  is  5  per  cent  today  ?  Measured  by  the  experience  of  this 
successful  organization,  it  is  practically  the  measure  of  profit  on 
the  earned  premium.  And  5  per  cent  became  a  very  important 
figure.  What  would  have  been  the  result  if  this  debate  had  not 
taken  place  ?  What  would  be  the  result  if  the  profit  of  that  de- 
bate were  not  availed  of  by  all  of  us  ?  This — that  in  ignorance 
of  the  fact  which  involves  the  entire  profit  of  the  business,  I 
might  be  cutting  the  rate  of  my  friend  the  president  of  the 
^tna,  just  as  I  am  doing  today,  undoubtedly  —  in  ignorance, 
not  in  greed — whereas,  if  I  knew  what  he  knows,  I  should  let 
his  risk  severely  alone  and  let  him  enjoy  the  profit  of  it.  That 
is  a  significant  fact,  a  very  significant  fact,  that  today  the  com- 
panies of  this  country,  in  ignorance,  not  in  greed,  are  cutting 
each  other's  rates.  But  does  that  avail  the  president  of  the 
JEtna  ?  I  say  no ;  he  does  not  get  the  advantage  of  what  he 
knows  himself ;  for  there  are  four  thousand  presidents  of  the 
.ZEtna  company  —  resident  presidents  in  Podunk,  Oshkosh,  Alton, 
111.,  Savannah  —  more  potential  than  Mr.  Clark  in  making  the 
rates  of  the  ^Etna  Insurance  Company.  Another  very  signifi- 
cant fact.  And  so  that  schedule  must  be  educational,  for  it  has 
brought  out  the  opinions  of  men  and  secured  the  concurrent 
judgment  of  the  underwriting  ability  of  the  country. 

Now,  what  is  the  process  of  making  a  rate  today  ?  There 
are  experts  in  this  business,  and  a  number  of  them — plenty  in 
this  room — men  of  judgment,  men  who  are  able  to  fill  any  posi- 
tion in  the  business,  who  inspect  a  risk  carefully  and  express  an 
opinion  that  you  and  I  would  bank  upon.  The  merchant  com- 
plains, "Your  rate  is  too  high;  you  charge  me  60  cents  on  my 
building,  and  1  per  cent  on  my  stock.  It  is  too  high.  Tell  me 
how  you  arrive  at  it."  The  answer  is  :  "I  arrive  at  it  by  expert 


84 

judgment ;  by  the  very  judgment  by  which  you  tell  one  piece  of 
cloth  from  another.  You  cannot  tell  me  why  this  is  worth  $2  a 
yard  or  that  is  worth  $3,  but  you  know  the  difference,  although 
you  may  not  be  able  to  put  it  in  words.  In  my  business  I  am 
supposed  to  know  the  difference.  I  have  been  in  the  business 
twenty-five  years ;  I  represent  the  Old  Reliable  Insurance  Com- 
pany and  know  all  the  statistics." 

But  what  happens  ?  Inspector  Doesticks,  of  the  family  of 
Doesticks  that  we  have  always  with  us,  representing  the  Asinine 
Insurance  Company  of  Donkeyville,  comes  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  street,  takes  one  look  at  the  building,  rushes  across,  greets 
the  merchant  with  the  statement :  "I  think  your  building  is  not 
worth  over  40  cents  and  the  stock  60  cents."  And  the  merchant 
says,  "  Give  me  your  h?md ;  I  believe  you  are  right;  this  ancient 
and  venerable  man  who  has  been  twenty-five  years  in  the  busi- 
ness ought  to  be  graduated  out  of  it ;  he  has  gone  to  seed." 

Now  if  the  schedule  is  too  much  in  detail,  the  test  of  the  detail 
is  this  :  Is  there  a  single  thing  in  that  schedule  which  has  a  price 
fixed  which  ought  not  to  be  taken  into  account  in  fixing  the  rates  ? 
Is  there  a  single  thing  there  that  improves  the  building  ? 
If  so,  it  ought  to  be  recognized  in  the  price.  I  want  to  call  your 
attention  to  one  of  the  points  in  the  schedule  which  seems  to  us 
a  very  important  one.  It  is  that  in  the  bulk  of  exceptional  fea- 
tures, they  are  provided  for  by  deductions.  I  do  not  need  to 
elaborate  on  this  point  to  a  body  of  men  like  those  that  are 
listening  to  me — that  wherever  a  very  high  standard  is  used  for 
rating,  where  every  departure  from  that  standard  must  be 
charged  for,  there  will  be  omissions  inevitably ;  and  that  is  a 
very  dangerous  sort  of  schedule  which  weighs  coal  with  the  troy 
scale  or  the  diamond  carat  scale  of  the  jeweler.  There  is  no 
need  of  that.  That  alone  would  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  the 
merit  of  that  schedule  in  treating  that  scale  of  merit  by  deduc- 
tions. They  will  be  overlooked  by  some  careless  men ;  they 
will  not  lie  overlooked  by  the  careful .  \Vc  will  not  be  the  loser. 
I  claim  for  that  schedule  this :  that  by  its  penalties,  by  its  point- 
ing out  faults,  such  faults  as  have  been  pointed  out  by  men  all 


85 

ever  the  country,  it  must  save  a  great  deal  of  money  in  pointing 
out  what  fires  can  be  prevented. 

We  have  heard  one  of  the  ablest  insurance  commissioners  in 
this  country  name  the  number  of  fires  in  Massachusetts  which 
could  have  been  prevented,  and  he  names  some  2,500,  and  he 
tells  how  large  a  proportion  were  preventable.  I  have  been  over, 
as  all  of  you  have,  probably,  the  figures  of  my  own  company, 
and  I  have  the  figures  and  percentages  of  a  much  greater  num- 
ber of  fires  than  burned  in  Massachusetts  last  year.  And  I  find 
that  taking  the  percentage  of  each  cause  of  the  preventable  kind 
— largely  carelessness,  largely  defective  flues — there  are  some 
33  per  cent  of  that  character,  of  which  16  per  cent  are  defec- 
tive flues.  The  fires  from  unknown  causes  are  35  per  cent,  and 
it  is  fair  to  assume  that  one-third  of  those  were  preventable 
causes,  if  33  per  cent  of  those  that  we  know  about  were  ;  and  23 
per  cent  were  exposure  fires,  and  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  33  per 
cent  of  those  were  due  to  carelessness ;  and  so  between  50  and 
90  per  cent,  at  least,  are  due  to  things  that  would  be  pointed  out 
by  this  schedule. 

The  other  day  I  walked  with  my  wife  in  New  York  to  the 
grocery  where  she  does  her  marketing,  and  as  we  stepped  in  I 
noticed  that  the  floor  was  covered  with  sawdust,  and  I  remarked 
to  her  that  that  was  dangerous.  As  the  proprietor  stepped  up  at 
that  moment  she,  laughingly,  said,  "  My  husband  says  ihis  saw- 
dust is  dangerous  that  you  have  on  the  floor;  he  is  in  the  insur- 
ance business."  He  said,  "  Oh,  no,  Mr.  Moore;  we  use  steam 
heat.11  Of  course  I  explained  to  him  about  the  broken  bottle  of 
olive  oil  and  spontaneous  combustion.  And  I  made  this  remark  : 
«*  The  underwriters  will  charge  you  25  cents  additional  on  $100, 
the  first  thing  you  know,  and  you  had  better  use  sand."  That  is 
all  1  said,  but  the  next  morning  I  passed  there  and  there  was  no 
sawdust  on  the  floor. 

So,  twenty-five  years  ago  the  proprietor  of  an  establishment  in 
Philadelphia  told  me  why  he  had  his  barrels  of  sawdust  on  the 
sidewalk — that  he  had  two  fires  break  out  in  those  in  one  day  and 
so  he  had  put  them  outside.  One  of  our  special  agents  said  to 


86 

me  the  other  day,  ' '  Coming  upstairs  the  other  morning  I  threw 
away,  as  I  had  for  years,  a  cigar  stump,  and  it  occurred  to  me 
after  I  got  into  my  office  that  I  had  thrown  it  into  some  place 
where  it  might  be  dangerous,  and  I  went  back  to  see  what  I  had 
thrown  it  into.  It  was  a  sawdust  spittoon."  That  is  another  im- 
portant matter,  and  merely  having  a  penalty  attached  to  it  will 
have  no  eftect.  So  I  think  you  will  agree  with  me  that  a  system 
of  rating  that  will  take  all  those  faults  and  charge  for  them  will 
be  all  important. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  in  our  business  about  its  not  being 
the  duty  of  an  underwriter  to  attempt  to  prevent  fires,  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  construction  or  fire  department ;  that  it  is 
our  province  to  take  risks  as  we  find  thorn  and  charge  for  them. 
Now  I  do  not  believe  that  doctrine  is  entertained  here.  It  does 
violence  to  any  supposition  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  of  the  re- 
sponsibility of  each  man  to  his  fellow,  and  it  lays  an  axe  at  the 
very  root  and  foundation  of  society.  Every  man,  in  some  sense, 
you  know  and  concede  without  argument,  is  the  brother  of  his 
neighbor,  and  every  man  in  his  particular  calling  owes  it  to  the 
general  community  of  which  he  forms  a  part  to  aid  that  com- 
munity with  the  peculiar  knowledge  which  he  gains  in  his  par- 
ticular business.  The  underwriter  ought  to  know  more  than  the 
chemist  about  fires  and  the  cause  of  them ;  and  if  you  read  any 
treatise  on  chemistry  today  you  will  find  that  the  chemist  glides 
over  those  matters  of  spontaneous  combustion  and  the  origin  of 
fires  with  the  same  nonchalance  and  perhaps  not  so  much 
emphasis  as  on  some  chemical  reaction  that  simply  casts  a  white 
precipitate.  The  underwriter  ought  to  know  more  about  build- 
ing a  flue  or  wall  than  any  mason  that  ever  handled  a  trowel. 
He  ought  to  know  more  about  building  around  fireplaces  or  cut- 
ting the  timbers  away  from  chimneys  than  any  carpenter  that 
ever  handled  a  saw.  He  ought  to  know  more  about  it  than  an 
architect ;  the  architect  is  simply  occupied  with  looking  out  for 
the  beautiful,  while  the  underwriter's  knowledge  and  experience 
go  to  the  practical  details  attecting  safety.  He  ought  to  know  more 
about  electricity  than  Edison.  He  ought  to  know  more  about  the 


OF 

•fiAU 


87 


extinguishment  of  fires  than  a  fireman,  for  his  is  the  experience 
of  a  thousand  cities  instead  of  one.  It  is  that  particular  knowl- 
edge that  he  gains  that  makes  him  debtor  to  his  fellows.  He 
ought  to  conduct  his  business  in  such  away  that  he  shall  encour- 
age the  safer  construction  of  buildings ;  he  will  point  out  par- 
ticular dangers  that  he  has  observed ;  he  will  have  his  eye  upon 
fire  departments ;  he  will  be  doing  his  duty  to  the  community  in 
which  he  lives  and  will  be  contributing  to  the  very  safety  of  the 
country  itself.  He  will  be  cutting  down  this  enormous  fire  waste. 
The  man  who  neglects  that  duty  is  certainly  a  traitor  to  the  re- 
public in  which  he  lives.  There  is  no  escape  from  it.  It  is  the 
duty  of  every  man,  it  seems  to  me,  to  so  conduct  his  business 
with  such  care,  intelligence,  and  economical  methods  that  he 
shall  place  his  commodity  to  his  consumer  at  the  lowest  possible 
price  consistent  with  a  fair  and  decent  profit  for  himself. 

Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  I  have  heard  tonight  one  say- 
ing that  will  ring  in  my  ears  for  many  a  day.  It  was  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  admonition  of  the  toastmaster,  "Brevity  is  the 
soul  of  wit."  It  seemed  to  me  to  touch  the  keynote  of  our  duty 
as  underwriters.  It  seemed  to  me  so  appropriate  that  this  New 
England  Insurance  Exchange  might  well  adopt  it  as  its  motto, 
that  blazoned  on  its  helmet,  so  to  speak,  it  would  win  for  it  the 
appreciation  of  the  public  which  we  are  seeking,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  fitting.  It  was  the  utterance  in  the  first  speech  of  the 
evening  by  the  first  president  of  the  New  England  Exchange, 
when  he  said — and  I  would  like  to  see  it^  on  the  walls  of  your 
meeting  room — "  We  best  serve  the  interests  of  our  companies 
when  we  serve  the  interests  of  the  public." 

Mr.  Sherman — "The  Boston  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters." 
Our  twin  sister,  born  under  the  same  influences  as  ourselves, 
may  the  ties  of  birth  promoted  by  common  interests  and  mutual 
confidence  ever  grow  stronger.  We  will  introduce  a  gentleman 
well  and  favorably  known  to  the  insurance  men  of  Boston,  one 
who  for  twenty  consecutive  years  has  been  secretary  of  the 
Boston  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters,  or  similar  organizations 
immediately  preceding,  Mr.  Osborne  Howes,  Jr. 


KEMAKKS  OP  OSBOKNE  HOWES,  JE, 


Mr.  President,  Mr.  Toastmaster,  and  Gentlemen :  I  have 
a  peculiar  pleasure  in  being  here  tonight  which  I  fancy  only 
a  few  of  the  older  members  of  the  Exchange  are  aware  of. 
I  have  sometimes  wondered  that  in  the  official  list  of  the  past 
officers  of  the  association  my  services  for  some  time,  for  some 
months,  as  a  species  of  secretary  of  the  Exchange,  were  omitted. 
But  I  find  tonight  from  the  toast  which  has  been  read  that  I  was 
hardly  considered  in  the  light  of  a  secretary,  but  rather  in  the 
light  of  the  useful  and  necessary,  but  not  always  honorable  per- 
son of  a  midwife.  I  may  be  said  to  have  acted  in  that  capacity 
and  to  have  helped  Messrs.  Crosby  and  Turner,  Gray  and  Field, 
and  others  through  the  pains  of  parturition,  and  in  nursing  and 
swathing,  and  washing  the  young  bantling  until  it  had  attained 
the  age  of  two  or  three  or  four  months,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
when  it  got  strong  enough  to  get  a  boot  and  shoe  factory 
schedule  under  way,  and  then  turn  it  over  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  my  successor,  James  Bruerton. 

But  I  am  not  here  tonight  to  dwell  upon  reminiscences  partic- 
ularly, nor  in  following  the  example  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Field,  to 
dwell  too  much  on  the  work  of  the  Boston  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers except  in  an  incidental  way.  I  have  but  a  very  few 
minutes,  because  it  is  very  late  and  there  are  other  speakers, 
and  the  time  is  short  anyway  to  expound  what  I  have  to  say, 
and  it  is  in  a  certain  nvay  a  heresy,  perhaps ;  at  least  it  conflicts 
entirely  with  the  general  ideas  of  the  gentleman  who  has  just 
preceded  me.  I  bring  this  point  out  for  the  reason  that  the 
universal  schedule  which  he  proposes  to  have  generally  adopted 
runs  in  conflict  with  the  general  theories  of  written  risks  which 
have  by  degrees  been  built  up  in  Boston. 

I  think  we  all  will  concede  that  it  is  desirable  and  in  the 
future  will  be  uecessarj7  to  form  what  may  be  termed  a  scientific 
system  of  underwriting.  Now  I  think  you  will  all  agree  with 
me  that  the  nearest  approximation  to  a  scientific  system  has 
been  attained  by  the  life  insurance  companies ;  that  they  have  a 


89 

scale  of  certain  charges  modified  very  little  from  time  to  time, 
and  it  seems  to  me  that  the  reasons  that  they  have  attained  that 
end  and  have  pursued  for  so  many  years  their  course  success- 
fully has  been  that  they  have  held  to  certain  broad,  simple 
principles,  and  have  not  attempted  to  deal  so  much  in  questions 
of  detail. 

Now,  if  you  will  permit  me,  I  should  like  to  apply  the  general 
principles  of  detailed  rating  to  a  life  insurance  policy.  We  will 
assume  first  an  ideal  man,  a  perfect  man,  whose  life  will  perhaps 
be  one  hundred  years.  We  will  also  assume  that  he  lives  in  an 
ideal  community,  where  the  rate  of  mortality  is  ten  in  a  thousand. 
Now  this  man  is  the  basis  upon  which  all  other  lives  are  to  be 
graded.  The  expectancy  or  non-expectancy  of  all  other  lives  is 
to  be  determined  by  the  life  of  this  ideal  man.  An  applicant 
goes  into  the  office  of  a  company,  either  in  Boston  or  in  New 
York,  and  the  first  question  to  him  is  where  he  lives.  Well,  he 
lives  either  in  New  York  or  Boston.  The  annual  rate  of  mor- 
tality in  one  or  the  other  of  those  cities  is  usually  from  twenty- 
two  to  twenty-five  in  a  thousand  ;  therefore  we  will  add  on  that 
account  $30  to  the  rate,  making  —  we  will  assume  the  ideal  man 
to  pay  $100,  and  we  add  $30,  making  $130,  which  would  be  the 
key  rate  by  which  the  life  was  to  be  determined. 

Now,  the  medical  examiner  goes  through  him  as  he  does 
through  most  persons  that  apply  and  finds  that  his  heart  is  some- 
what weak — he  has  a  tobacco  heart.  He  adds  $2.50  for  that. 
Then  his  maternal  grandmother  died  of  pulmonary  consumption  ; 
he  adds  $4  for  that.  His  urine  is  not  up  to  the  specific  gravity, 
and  $4  is  added  for  that.  Then  his  father  lived  until  he  was  80 
years  of  age,  and  $5  is  deducted  for  that.  I  won't  go  through 
the  long  schedule ;  all  of  you  know  how  the  doctor  goes  through 
the  individual  characteristics  of  the  man.  And  I  say  that  it  is 
possible  for  a  life  insurance  examiner  or  a  life  insurance  actuary 
to  apply  those  various  charges  which  would  distinguish  one  man 
from  the  other,  and  in  that  way  he  would  make  out  what  would 
be  an  ideally  perfect  schedule,  so  that  each  man  would  be  rated 
according  to  his  merits,  and  the  strong  man  would  get  the  ben- 


90 

efit  of  the  low  rate,  and  the  weak  man  would  have  to  pay  an  ad- 
ditional sum.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  while  that  would  be  ideal, 
the  scientific  system  of  life  insurance  would  evaporate.  It 
would  be  utterly  impossible  for  actuaries  of  life  insurance  com- 
panies to  lay  down  those  general  broad  principles  of  action  that 
they  hold  to  at  the  present  time,  simply  because  you  would  have 
gone  from  a  dealing  in  general  averages  down  to  a  dealing  in 
particulars,  and  where  particulars  vary  so  greatly  it  would  be 
almost  impossible  to  formulate  any  scheme  of  writing  that  would 
hold  for  any  length  of  time. 

No<v  to  apply  that  to  fire  insurance  —  and  now  I  bring  it 
down  to  possibly  a  local  application — we  have  found  it  as  the 
result  of  our  experience  in  Boston,  so  far  as  mercantile  risks  are 
concerned,  or  risks  that  are  of  a  light  manufacturing  character, 
that  we  can  serve  the  public  best,  we  can  content  the  public 
best,  if  we  will  put  on  what  is  practically  the  same  rate  for  the 
same  class  of  business.  Assuming  that  the  people  occupy 
buildings  that  are  fairly  alike,  the  conditions  of  which  cannot  be 
changed  except  by  a  radical  change  —  that  is,  tearing  down  or 
burning  down  the  building  and  reconstructing  it  —  we  attempt 
in  the  boot  and  shoe  industry,  for  example,  to  rate  all  classes 
about  alike.  Then  in  addition  to  that  we  have  our  system  of  in- 
spection which  goes  through  these  various  risks,  and  where  it 
is  found  that  there  are  correctible  defects,  those  defects  are 
charged  for,  and  the  charge  remains  upon  them  until  cor- 
rected. 

The  effect  of  that  has  been  in  Boston  very  much  more  advan- 
tageous than  when,  a  number  of  years  ago,  we  attempted  to  ap- 
ply a  system  of  schedule  rating  to  mercantile  risks,  bringing 
about  very  material  differences,  which  could  not  be  explained  in 
a  convincing  manner  to  the  occupants  and  owners  of  buildings. 
The  result  is  that  for  years  past  we  have  had  not  the  least  fric- 
tion with  our  public.  I  think  that  I  may  safely  say  that  there 
is  no  city  in  the  United  States  that  for  the  last  five  years  or  ten 
years  or  twenty  years  can  show  a  better  rate  of  earning  for  the 
companies  than  Boston ;  that  is,  that  the  average  of  our  fire 


91 

losses,  the  percentage  of  fire  losses  to  premium  receipts,  is  as 
low  here,  if  not  lower,  than  in  any  large  city  in  the  United 
States,  and  has  been  so.  And  yet  at  the  same  time  we  have 
carried  our  public  along  with  us,  so  that  while  they  are  willing 
to  stand  an  advance  of  20  per  cent,  as  we  have  recently  made 
it,  or  in  individual  cases,  where  we  can  point  out  to  them  cor- 
rectible  defects,  they  are  willing  to  stand  it.  I  do  believe  that 
if  we  were  to  change  our  system  and  to  make  these  differences 
between  men  in  the  same  trade,  the  effect  would  be  disastrous 
to  our  organization,  and  we  should  have  what  we  have  not  had 
during  the  last  three  or  four  years  —  attempts  at  breaking  up 
all  board  organizations  brought  into  the  legislature. 

Now  I  will  go  one  step  further  and  say  that  it  is  the  duty,  as 
Mr.  Moore  has  said,  of  the  underwriters  to  improve  in  every 
way  they  can  the  construction  of  buildings,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
great  fire  waste  which  is  annually  taking  place.  It  seems  to  me 
that  in  that  respect  the  course  we  have  adopted  in  Boston  is  the 
right  one  to  take.  Last  year  I  had  the  pleasure  of  presenting  to 
the  legislature  of  this  state  the  draft  of  a  building  law  drawn  up 
very  carefully  and  which  I  think  is  a  model  in  its  way.  If  it  is 
not  a  model  I  can  only  say  that  I  am  responsible  for  it,  because 
I  could  have  made  it  different  if  I  had  wished  to.  The  only 
change  the  committee  of  the  legislature  made  in  that  building  law 
was  to  strike  out  the  item  that  I  had  introduced  prohibiting  the 
use  of  wooden  signs  upon  buildings.  They  objected  to  that  and 
it  was  taken  out,  but  with  that  exception  the  bill  passed  pre- 
cisely as  it  was  introduced,  and  it  will  apply,  of  course,  to  all 
new  construction.  But  that  is  all  that  we  can  hope  to  do  in  a 
radical  manner.  No  matter  if  we  increase  the  rate  upon  a  mer- 
cantile building  two,  three,  or  four  times  larger  than  it  is,  the 
owner  of  that  building  is  not  going  to  destroy  that  building  and 
put  up  another.  In  time  it  will  be  taken  down  and  a  better 
one  erected.  But  upon  the  principle  of  allowing  the  public 
authorities — just  as  the  life  insurance  companies  look  to  the  boards 
of  health  to  procure  good  sanitation,  etc. — following  that  system, 
it  seems  to  me  the  underwriters  can  do  more  good  than  by  any 


92 

attempt  on  their  part  to  correct  defects  simply  by   a  system  of 
additional  charges. 

I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  the  attention  you  have  given  me. 
I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  have  been  here  this  evening,  and  while 
I  have  not  expressed  myself,  perhaps,  as  plainly  on  this  subject 
as  I  wish  I  could,  I  thought  it  desirable  to  take  this  occasion  to 
do  so. 

Mr.  Sherman — "Finance  and  Insurance."  The  interests  of 
insurance  and  finance  are  so  intimately  interwoven  that  a  cessa- 
tion to  furnish  our  policies  of  indemnity  would  paralyze  the  busi- 
ness community.  We  will  introduce  one  of  our  New  England 
financiers,  a  president  of  a  leading  New  Hampshire  bank, 
treasurer  of  a  successful  New  England  fire  insurance  company, 
a  gentleman  whose  eloquent  voice  has  been  heard  in  the  legisla- 
tive halls  of  his  state  in  friendly  defence  of  insurance  companies, 
Hon.  G.  B.  Chandler  of  Manchester,  N.  H. 

EEMAEKS  OP  a.  B,  OHANDLEE, 


Mr.  Toastmaster  and  Gentlemen :  I  arise  to  express  to  you 
the  great  pleasure  I  have  had  in  meeting  with  you  this  evening. 
Such  gatherings  as  this  must  certainly  be  of  great  benefit. 
From  the  words  of  wisdom,  the  words  of  counsel,  the  kindly 
words  which  have  been  expressed  here,  you  must  certainly  reap 
a  rich  harvest  in  the  future.  I  was  glad  to  hear  Boston  extolled 
by  one  of  the  leading  underwriters  in  this  city.  While  he  was 
speaking  the  pride  of  my  own  state  was  kindled  when  I  thought 
that  he  himself  was  a  New  Hampshire  boy,  when  I  thought  that 
the  president  of  this  Exchange  was  a  New  Hampshire  boy,  when 
I  thought  that  the  secretary  of  this  Exchange  was  a  New  Hamp- 
shire boy,  when  I  thought  that  the  first  president  of  this 
Exchange  was  a  New  Hampshire  boy ;  and  when  I  looked  about 
this  board  and  saw  seated  here  other  sons  of  the  Granite  State 
who  are  largely  interested  in  the  insurance  business  of  New 
England,  1  said,  "New  Hampshire  certainly  is  at  home;  New 


93 

Hampshire  has  friends  in  this  Exchange ;  we  have  friends  at 
court."  And  when  some  one  came  along  and  whispered  to  me, 
"There  are  more  special  agents  on  this  floor  from  New  Hamp- 
shire than  any  other  state,"  I  said,  "  I  will  repeat  that  statement 
without  vouching  for  it,  for  I  cannot  believe  it  to  be  true." 

Now,  gentlemen,  the  hour  is  late,  and  I  will  take  but  a  mo- 
ment of  your  time.  The  subject  assigned  me  is  "  Finance  and 
Insurance."  I  presume  I  was  invited  to  speak  upon  finance  from 
the  fact  that  I  have  had  in  one  bank  in  New  Hampshire  an  ex- 
perience of  thirty-eight  years.  That  certainly  should  entitle  me 
to  be  considered  in  the  line  of  the  financiers.  Now  what  we  do 
in  the  way  of  finance  is  to  promote  the  business  interests  of  the 
country  as  no  other  department  of  business  can  promote  it.  The 
work  which  is  done  by  the  financier  or  by  the  bank  is  a  work 
which  is  surprisingly  large.  I  suppose,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that 
the  exchanges  as  made  through  the  clearing  houses  of  this 
country  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  $200,000,000  a  day.  This 
is  the  work  of  the  financier.  He  is  adjusting  balances,  or 
rather,  he  is  the  medium  through  which  balances  are  adjusted 
between  individuals,  between  communities,  between  coun- 
tries. 

Now  the  value  of  the  functions  of  the  financier  I  wish  I  had 
the  time  to  dilate  upon,  but  I  have  not.  The  next  interest  that  I 
would  consider  would  be  the  insurance  interest.  Perhaps  I  was 
asked  to  consider  that  from  this  standpoint  for  the  reason  that  for 
twenty-three  years — the  life  of  the  New  Hampshire  Fire  Insur- 
ance Company — I  have  been  its  treasurer.  The  record  is  one 
of  which,  from  the  financial  standpoint,  I  feel,  with  the  other 
members  of  our  committee,  very  proud.  Now  what  are  we 
doing  ?  What  dependence  have  we — what  reliance  do  we,  as 
insurance  people — place  upon  finance  ?  Here  is  in  this  country 
an  estimated  wealth  of  between  sixty  and  seventy  billions  of 
dollars.  Of  that  amount  more  than  twenty  billions  of  dollars  is 
covered  by  policies  in  companies  which  are  represented  by  these 
gentlemen  gathered  around  this  board.  More  than  twenty 
billions  of  property  is  protected  by  you.  Now  what  should  we 


94 

as  financiers  do  without  the  protection  which  we  as  insurance 
people  give  to  this  community  ?  Where  would  be  the  credit  of 
the  merchant,  where  would  be  the  credit  of  any  class  of  people 
engaged  in  the  enterprises  of  this  country  if  their  risks  could  not 
be  insured  and  covered  as  you  cover  them  with  your  insurance 
policies  ?  Does  this  ever  occur  to  you  ?  Have  you  ever  thought 
of  the  great  responsibility  which  rests  upon  you  having  in 
charge  this  enormous  interest  ? 

Now,  I  am  a  little  in  the  position  of  the  young  man  who  had 
two  sweethearts,  and  they  happened  both  to  meet  him  together 
one  Jay,  and  his  ejaculation  was,  "How  happy  could  I  be  with 
either,  were  t'other  dear  charmer  away."  I  am  so  infatuated 
with  both  of  these  departments  of  business — finance  and  insur- 
ance— that  I  can  do  them  no  justice  in  a  speech  of  five  minutes, 
and  consequently  I  shall  do  best  not  to  try.  I  wish,  however, 
to  say  before  taking  my  seat  that  I  agree  very  fully  with  the 
sentiment  which  has  been  uttered  here  tonight  with  regard  to  the 
protection  of  property.  Mr.  Moore  told  us  of  the  cigar  stump 
thrown  into  the  sawdust  spittoon  and  of  seeing  in  a  store  the 
floor  covered  with  sawdust.  I  once,  in  going  through  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Armour  Packing  Company  in  Chicago  with  a 
Boston  insurance  man — the  president  of  a  Boston  company — 
actually  found  the  lighted  stump  of  a  cigar  in  the  sawdust  which 
covered  the  floor.  I  said  to  the  president,  « «  Now  you  and  I  had 
better  get  out  of  this  business  if  that  is  the  kind  of  risks  we  are 
taking  here — cigar  stumps  thrown  among  the  sawdust."  It  seems 
to  me  that  it  is  the  next  thing  to  a  crime  that  we  should  so  allow 
the  construction  of  buildings  that  the  fire  losses  in  this  country 
can  reach  the  enormous  proportions  of  $130,000,000  to 
$140,000,000  a  year.  Gentlemen,  make  a  study  of  this  point. 
You,  as  insurance  people,  should  take  hold  of  it;  you  should 
endeavor  to  procure  such  legislation  as  should  absolutely  pro- 
hibit the  erection  of  such  buildings  as  now  form  a  very  large 
percentage  of  those  which  are  being  erected  in  the  cities  and 
villages  in  this  country.  Gentlemen,  I  thank  you  for  your 
attention.  The  hour  is  late  and  I  bid  you  good  night. 


95 

Mr.  Sherman — "Absent  Friends,  our  Shareholders."  Some 
one  has  well  said,  "  Absence  makes  the  heart  grow  fonder,"  and 
in  proposing  this  sentiment  we  call  to  mind  a  suggestive  stanza : 

"  Count  not  the  hours  while  their  silent  wings 

Thus  waft  them  in  fairy  flight, 
For  friendship  warm  from  her  deepest  springs 

Shall  hallow  this  scene  tonight. 
And  while  the  music  of  joy  is  here 

And  the  colors  of  life  are  gay, 
Let  us  think  of  those  that  we  would  were  near, 

The  friends  who  are  far  away.'' 

We  take  much  pleasure  in  introducing  to  respond  to  this 
sentiment  the  United  States  manager  of  the  Norwich  Union  Fire 
Office,  Mr.  J.  Montgomery  Hare. 


EBMABKS  OP  J,  MONTGOMERY  EAEE, 


Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  New  England  Exchange; 
I  wish  in  corning  to  this  banquet  to  lay  before  this  assem- 
blage my  tribute  of  respect  and  admiration.  The  Exchange 
has  since  its  organization  ten  years  since,  from  its  wise 
action  and  tendency  to  cultivate  fraternal  feeling  among  the 
field  men,  been  a  leader  among  all  associations.  Our  occupation 
calls  from  those  who  occupy  it  a  high  grade  of  qualification.  It 
is  a  profession  which,  if  the  highest  standard  is  sought  for  by  us 
will  require  more  general  information  than  most  others.  We 
must  have  knowledge  of  physics,  of  commercial  customs,  of  law 
as  laid  down  for  us  by  legislature,  of  law  as  laid  down  for  us  by 
courts,  and  above  all,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  human  charac- 
ter. It  is  but  natural,  therefore,  that  in  New  England  and 
especially  here  in  Boston  that  we  should  find  so  successful  an 
organization  as  your  Exchange.  Much  has  been  done  by  you, 
but  much  remains  to  be  done.  Through  some  condition — time 
tonight  will  not  permit  any  attempt  to  explain  why — we  find  the 
insurance  business  through  extraordinary  bad  results  in  the  last 
two  years  in  a  condition  which  requires  some  radical  change. 


96 

An  examination  of  statistics  will  show  that  the  percentage  of 
total  loss  to  total  amount  insured  remains  about  the  same,  but 
they  also  show  that  the  average  rate  of  premium  to  the  amount 
insured  has  been  reduced.  Not  on  all  kinds  of  business. 
There  is  a  class  we  all  know  is  carrying  another  class  because  of 
that  class  being  written  at  inadequate  rates.  Now  we  have  a 
condition  that  confronts  us,  that,  in  justice  to  "  Absent  Friends, 
our  Shareholders,"  must  be  met.  These  friends  have  been  very 
patient  but  they  now  call  upon  us  for  action.  Absent  friends  are 
sometimes  forgotten  but  at  this  time  of  congratulation  and  fes- 
tivity let  us  have  them  in  memory  and  around  this  board  let  the 
sentiment  of  the  occasion  fill  us  with  the  determination  to  join 
hands  and  bring  about  a  proper  recognition  of  their  rights.  We 
are  by  our  failure  to  act  undermining  that  strength  of  our  cor- 
porations which  is  relied  upon  by  the  merchant  and  manufac- 
turer to  aid  them  in  time  of  conflagrations. 

A  stock  company  must  do  more  than  pay  losses  and  pay  divi- 
dends ;  they  must  be  allowed  to  set  aside  a  fund  such  as  will 
permit  them  successfully  to  meet  such  disasters  as  Boston  and 
Chicago.  As  it  is  now  we  are  but  collecting  and  disbursing 
agencies — not  always  able  to  collect  and  not  always  able  to  dis- 
burse. The  insuring  public  is  not  satisfied  with  this  ;  it  is  pre- 
pared to  pay  us  reasonable  insurance  rates  at  the  present  time 
to  secure  responsibility  in  time  of  great  disaster.  I  will  not 
enter  upon  how  this  should  be  done,  you  are  competent  to  decide 
this,  but  if  it  is  to  be  done  let  it  be  done  at  once. 

And  now  before  closing,  Mr.  President,  there  are  other  absent 
friends  which  we  must  have  in  remembrance  and  they  are  also 
shareholders,  present  and  prospective — our  wives  and  sweet- 
hearts— to  the  first  wo,  owe  much  in  the  encouragement  given, 
to  the  latter  much  in  the  ambition  stirred  up.  I  ask  you  all  to 
join  in  the  toast,  "  Fair  Women,  Our  Wives  and  Sweethearts." 

Mr.  Sherman — "  The  Fire  Laddies,"  important  allies  to  the 
insurance  companies.  Great  interests  depend  on  their  ability, 
celerity,  courage  and  persistence.  The  faithful  fire  men  deserve 


97 

the  earnest  sympathy  and  encouragement  of  insurance  companies. 
We  will  introduce  the  fireman  champion,  the  United  States 
manager  of  the  North  British  &  Mercantile  Insurance  Company, 
Mr.  Samuel  P.  Blagden. 

EEMAEKS  OF  SAMUEL  P,  BLACKEN, 


Gentlemen:  I  would  not  allow  you  to  wait  another  minute 
here,  but  for  two  reasons.  The  first  is  that  of  gratitude 
coming  straight  from  the  heart;  and  the  second  is,  that  the 
subject  which  was  given  to  me  relates  to  a  department  in  which 
the  public  are  properly  more  interested  than  ourselves,  but  with 
which  we  are  so  intimate  that  it  is  our  pleasure  and  duty  to 
speak  a  word  in  their  behalf  and  of  information  to  the  public. 
My  friend  on  my  right  and  others  have  alluded  to  this  city  of 
Boston  and  to  its  growth,  to  its  change.  Let  me  in  the  begin- 
ning refer  to  it  in  another  way.  I  am  a  native  of  this  city. 
There  exists  in  connection  with  it  and  its  people  one  great 
peculiarity.  No  matter  how  long  a  native  may  be  away,  when 
he  returns  it  seems  like  coming  home.  As  1  looked  out  of  my 
window  this  morning  I  did  not  see  a  single  thing  with  which  I 
had  not  been  familiar  over  forty  years  ago.  In  front  of  me  was 
the  Common  and  the  old  Frog  Pond,  covered  with  a  mantle  of 
purity.  It  was  a  morning  such  as  that  of  which  Lowell  sang, 

when 

Every  pine  and  fir  and  hemlock 

Wore  ermine  too  dear  for  an  earl, 

And  the  poorest  twig  on  the  elm-tree 

Was  ridged  inch  deep  with  pearl. 

If  I  had  wanted  anything  else  to  make  me  feel  that  I  was  in- 
deed at  home,  it  is  that  unvarying  cordial,  nay,  affectionate 
greeting,  which  I  always  receive  from  those  who  knew  me  in 
the  years  that  are  gone,  emphasized  as  it  is  tonight  in  the  cordial 
greeting  which  I  receive  from  you.  I  remember  walking,  a 
beautiful  summer's  day,  along  this  avenue,  with  her  who  is 
nearest  and  to  whom  I  owe  most,  and  as  she  looked  at  this  city 


98 

she  said,  *«  It  is  a  beautiful  city,  and  I  love  the  people,  but  I  do 
wish  they  wouldn't  think  so  much  of  themselves."  "  Well,"  I 
said,  "what  can  you  expect,  when  people  like  you  think  so 
much  more  of  them  than  they  do  of  themselves." 

But  we  may  carry  that  thing  too  far,  gentlemen.  We  have  all 
become  accustomed  to  hear  and  probably  agree  that  anyone  who 
was  born  in  Boston  doesn't  need  to  be  born  again.  But  I  must 
confess  my  amazement  at  the  audacity  which  I  have  noticed  dis- 
played in  the  public  prints  by  anyone  asserting  that  Boston 
doesn't  need  any  co-insurance  clause.  We  all  need  that.  It  is 
the  foundation  stone  of  the  system  upon  which  we  can  arrive  at 
the  true  proportion  of  losses,  and  thus  at  equitable  rates. 

Next  to  that,  gentlemen,  and  with  it,  we  need  and  cannot  too 
much  enforce  upon  every  insurance  department  of  this  country 
the  necessity  for  far  more  rigid  building  laws  than  exist  in  any 
portion  of  it  today.  The  height  and  the  area  of  buildings  make 
them  hazardous,  as  you  know,  for  conflagrations,  and  not  only 
that,  but — in  rushing  hastily  to  the  subject  you  have  n.amed  for 
me  —  it  makes  it  outrageously  hazardous  for  our  fire  laddies. 
Now,  if  there  is  a  city  in  the  Union  which  should  be  thankful  to 
the  firemen,  it  is  Boston.  Go  back  with  me,  as  some  of  you  can, 
a  score  of  years  and  a  little  more,  and  stand  on  the  corner  of  old 
Milk  street  after  acres  of  our  city  had  been  burnt  over  and 
millions  of  value  consumed  ;  stand  there  and  hear  those  citizens, 
as  they  did,  say  to  the  fire  laddies,  ««  God  bless  you!  Save  the 
old  church!"  Those  poor  men,  worn  out,  almost  exhausted,  put 
forth  fresh  energy  at  the  call.  They  did  save  the  old  church  and 
every  cent  of  the  church's  property,  and  in  so  doing,  mind 
you,  they  saved  vastly  more,  for  if  that  church  had  gone  no 
human  power  could  have  stayed  that  fire  from  crossing  Wash- 
ington street  and  burning  over  acres  and  acres  of  territory. 

You  owe  a  great  deal  to  the  fire  laddies.  They  are  ever  for- 
getful of  themselves.  Think  of  them  in  the  coldest  night, 
braving  the  blizzard  and  the  tempest,  as  they  were  compelled  to 
in  New  York.  It  is  only  a  few  weeks  since  I  stood  on  top  of  one 
of  the  largest  warehouses  in  Brooklyn  and  saw  the  bodies  of  two 


99 

of  those  faithful  fellows  brought  out  of  the  ruins,  standing  as 
they  had  been  on  the  merchandise,  fighting  the  fire  until  it  went 
in,  and  they  went  with  those  heavy  bales  and  were  lost.  It  is 
only  two  days  since  you  all  read  in  the  papers  of  their  persistent 
bravery  in  rescuing  six  men  in  that  building  where  explosion 
followed  explosion,  never  retreating  in  spite  of  the  increasing 
danger,  until  they  brought  out  every  one  of  them,  one  to  die, 
and  the  rest  saved,  though  maimed.  No,  we  cannot  say  too 
much  for  them. 

I  cannot  close  this  without  referring  to  an  instance  among  our 
own  more  immediate  fire  laddies.  Several  of  you  have  heard  of 
it,  but  you  will  bear  with  me  if  I  tell  of  it  again,  that  we  may 
honor  ourselves  in  doing  justice  to  the  heroism  of  one  of  our 
own  men.  You  will  remember,  for  it  was  only  a  few  months 
since,  on  that  beautiful  summer  morning,  when  that  awful 
catastrophe  occurred,  of  the  burning  of  the  Hotel  Royal  in  New 
York.  The  scene  was  a  fearful  one.  The  bodies  of  the  dead 
and  maimed  victims  wrere  lying  in  the  street.  Men  and  women 
were  jumping  from  the  windows  to  almost  certain  death  upon 
the  pavements  below,  or  falling  back  to  perish  in  that  sea  of 
fire.  The  poor  crowd  in  their  interest  were  unable  to  withdraw 
their  gaze  from  the  scene,  every  incident  of  which  was  made 
only  too  distinct  in  the  lurid  glare  of  the  flames.  At  a  window 
in  one  of  the  upper  stories  was  gathered  a  group  of  four. 
Among  them  was  that  sacred  trinity,  that  God-given  trinity  of 
father,  mother,  and  child,  awaiting  death  together.  At  a  win- 
dow in  the  adjoining  building  appeared  a  sergeant  of  our  patrol ; 
he  was  unable  to  reach  them.  Without  hesitation  he  threw 
himself  down,  locking  his  legs  around  a  wire  conveniently 
near,  and  holding  himself  upon  the  sill  with  his  one  arm,  with 
the  other  he  guided  that  group  of  four  over  his  prostrate  body  as 
a  bridge  to  that  window  and  to  safety. 

His  work  was  not  yet  through.  Ascending  to  the  roof  in 
another  portion  of  the  building,  he  discovered  a  man  standing 
upon  one  of  the  upper  windows.  Crying  to  him  to  wait  and  he 
would  save  him,  he  rushed  to  the  street  and  calling  upon  two 


100 

companions  to  follow  him,  ran  to  the  roof  of  another  adjoining 
building.  He  threw  himself  head  first  over  the  cornice,  his 
companions  holding  him  by  the  legs,  and  succeeded  in  getting 
that  man  of  over  two  hundred  pounds  upon  the  roof.  To  that 
man  I  had  the  honor  of  presenting  one  of  our  medals,  which  is 
only  given  in  the  case  of  the  saving  of  life.  Gentlemen,  in 
closing  let  me  give  you  with  all  heartiness  a  toast  you  will 
gladly  drink :  "  Our  fire  laddies,  God  bless  them." 

Mr.  Emerson — Gentlemen:  Before  we  sing  our  closing  hymn 
I  wish  to  announce  that  tomorrow — or  perhaps  I  should  say  today 
— at  10  o'clock,  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  England  Insurance 
Exchange  will  be  held  in  its  rooms  at  No.  55  Kilby  street,  and 
we  should  be  glad  to  see  you  all  there.  I  hope  we  shall  have 
that  pleasure.  Now,  if  you  will  join  me  in  singing  "Auld 
Lang  Syne,"  we  will  close  our  exercises  for  the  night. 

REGRETS  PKOM  VARIOUS  SOURCES, 


From  the  letters  received  from  prominent  underwriters  who 
were  unable  to  be  present  at  the  banquet  the  following  extracts 
are  taken : 

PHILADELPHIA,  Pa.,  Dec.  5,  1892. 

Please  present  our  congratulations  to  the  Exchange,  and 
assure  them  of  our  continued  fidelity  and  loyalty.  The  Ex- 
change has  been  one  of  the  most  useful  of  all  the  tariff  organiza- 
tions; has  been  of  incalculable  value  to  the  companies,  and 
is  deserving  of  the  highest  praise  as  well  as  the  continued  con- 
fidence and  support  of  all  the  companies  which  it  represents. 
Yours  very  truly, 

E.  C.  IRVIN,  President, 
Fire  Association  of  Philadelphia. 

HARTFORD,  Dec.  27,  1892. 

I  am  honored  by  your  invitation  to  attend  the  reception  and 
banquet  given  by  the  New  England  Insurance  Exchange  on  the 
6th  of  January  next,  and  beg  leave  to  express  my  profound 
regret  that  my  office  duties  and  other  engagements  prevent  my 
acceptance  and  attendance.  It  is  a  gratification,  however,  for 
me  to  know  that  other  gentlemen  of  our  executive  staff  will 
share  your  hospitality  on  that  pleasant  occasion.  The  fact  that 
the  festive  suggestion  emanates  from  the  New  England  Insur- 


101 

ance    Exchange   fully    insures    its    success    and    an    enjoyable 
evening.  Yours  sincerely, 

A.  C.  BAYNE,  Vice-President, 

^Etna  Insurance  Company. 
NEW  YORK,  Dec.  27,  1892. 

I  have  uniformly  felt  that  the  work  of  the  Exchange  has 
been  conducted  with  rare  discretion  and  consistency.  Deserving 
as  it  does  the  highest  commendation  and  support  by  the  com- 
panies whose  interests  have  been  so  successfully  served,  I  trust 
and  believe  the  association  will  continue  to  exercise  its  good 
judgment  to  the  end  that  it  may  celebrate  many  happy  returns 
of  the  decennial  dinner.  Very  truly  yours, 

HENRY  W.  EATON,  Manager, 

Liverpool  &  London  &  Globe. 
CHICAGO,  111.,  Dec.  16,  1892. 

In  giving  expression  to  my  regret  that  the  exigencies  of  busi- 
ness will  prevent  me  from  being  with  you,  let  me  add  the  assur- 
ance of  hearty  respect  for  the  splendid  organization  that  you 
represent,  and  convey  through  you  to  your  fellow-members  in 
behalf  of  the  "  Union  "  the  kindest  of  greetings  and  the  best  of 
good  wishes.  Very  sincerely  yours, 

THOMAS  J.  CHARD,  President, 

"The  Union." 

MANCHESTER,  N.  H.,  Dec.  27,  1892. 

Trusting  that  those  assembled  will  have  all  the  enjoyment  that 
the  intelligent  and  hard  working  members  of  this  association 
deserve,  and  that  when  all  is  over  and  inspiring  sleep  has 
refreshed  the  body  and  cleared  the  head,  they  will  each  buckle 
on  their  armor  with  renewed  energy  and  go  for  the  risks  that 
won't  burn.  With  a  high  appreciation  of  the  character  of  the 
members  individually,  and  of  their  services  in  behalf  of  the 
insurance  interests  of  New  England  collectively,  and  with  sin- 
cere thanks  for  the  honor  of  the  invitation, 

I  remain,  yours  very  truly, 

JAMES  A.  WESTON,  President, 
New  Hampshire  Fire  Insurance  Company. 
STATE  HOUSE,  BOSTON,  Dec.  19,  1892. 

I  thank  your  Exchange  for  its  very  kind  invitation  to  attend  its 
reception  and  banquet  on  the  evening  of  Jan.  6.  I  regret  very 
much  to  say  that  I  have  an  important  engagement  for  that 
evening  which  makes  it  impossible  for  me  to  be  present  at  the 
dinner.  There  is,  however,  a  chance  that  I  may  be  able  to  be 
with  you  for  a  little  while  at  your  reception.  I  certainly  hope 
I  may  have  this  pleasure,  as  I  would  like  extremely  to  meet  the 


102 

members  of  your  Exchange  and  their  invited  guests.  It  is  a 
great  disappointment  to  nie  that  I  am  not  able  to  be  with  you 
through  the  evening,  and  to  have  the  opportunity  of  expressing 
to  the  Exchange  the  interest  of  the  Commonwealth  in  your  work 
and  her  best  wishes  for  your  continued  prosperity. 
Very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  E.  RUSSELL,  Governor. 
NEW  YORK,  Dec.  16,  1892. 

It  is  with  peculiar  pleasure,  in  my  travels  throughout  the 
United  States,  that  I  learn  of  the  esteem  and  respect  which  the 
New  England  Exchange  enjoys.  Permit  me  to  offer  my  con- 
gratulations and  heart}^  good  wishes  for  the  continued  success  of 
an  organization  distinguished  for  its  consistent  and  able  manage- 
ment, its  good  influence,  and  good  fellowship.  Yours  very  truly, 

WILLIAM  A.  FRANCIS,  Assistant  Manager, 
North  British  &  Mercantile  Insurance  Company. 

CHICAGO,  111.,  Dec.  29,  1892. 

Being  one  of  the  early  members  of  the  Exchange,  I  have  con- 
tinued to  follow  eagerly  all  information  I  could  secure  of  their 
doings  from  time  to  time,  and  am  exceedingly  proud  of  the 
record  so  far  made  and  the  very  high  esteem  in  which  it  is  held 
by  underwriters  all  over  the  world.  That  the  commemorative 
exercises  will  be  very  interesting  and  enjoyable  to  the  partici- 
pants goes  without  saying  and  I  am  only  sorry  that  I  cannot 
arrange  matters  as  to  admit  of  my  being  present.  Yours  truly, 

H.  E.  EDDY,  Manager  Western  Department, 
Commercial  Union  Assurance  Company. 

TORONTO,  Dec.  21,  1892. 

It  requires  great  self-denial  to  say  "no  "to  an  invitation  to 
meet  the  brightest  and  brainiest  association  of  insurance  men  in 
the  East,  and  I  would  gladly  be  a  listener  to  the  good  things 
which  will  be  said,  and  do  full  justice  to  your  good  cheer,  if  it 
were  at  all  possible  to  do  so,  but  I  am  just  now  expatriat- 
ing myself  and  making  an  effort  to  set  up  my  «« lares  and  pen- 
ates  "  in  Toronto,  and  cannot  possibly  get  a  single  day  to  de- 
vote to  the  duties  of  good-fellowship.  Please  to  extend  my 
thanks  to  your  association  for  the  honor  of  the  invitation  and  ac- 
cept my  hearty  good  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  anniversary 
banquet  and  the  prosperity  and  permanency  of  the  New  England 
Insurance  Exchange.  A.  A.  GRAND  ALL, 

Western  Assurance  Company. 

Other  gentlemen  sending  in  their  regrets  were  Messrs.  Living- 
ston Mims,  W.  F.  Crook,  E.  E.  Lowenguth,  and  C.  W.  Brownell. 


103 
CHKONOLOGIOAL  HISTOKY  OP  THE  EXCHANGE, 


The  New  England  Insurance  Exchange  was  organized  Jan.  6, 
1883.  Previous  to  its  inception  the  fire  insurance  situation  in 
this  section  can  be  best  designated  as  chaotic.  Rates,  rules,  and 
order  were  practically  unknown  at  any  point,  and  very  few 
local  boards  were  in  existence.  At  Boston  the  local  board  had 
for  some  time  attempted  to  control  rates,  which  probably  gave 
considerable  moral  support  to  the  Exchange  when  organized. 

The  first  attempt  to  make  rates  outside  of  Boston  was  in 
November,  1882,  when  a  meeting  of  special  agents  was  called  to 
consider  paper  mills.  It  resulted  in  the  sending  out  of  a  circu- 
lar asking  the  companies  if  they  would  hold  to  rates  on  such 
risks  if  made.  Forty-four  companies  answered  that  they  would. 
Another  meeting  was  held  soon  after  and  rates  on  lumber  at 
Burlington,  Vt.,  were  made,  which  were  promptly  adopted  by 
the  companies. 

The  success  attending  these  efforts  led  to  an  attempt  soon 
after  to  rate  jewelry  factories  at  Attleboro,  Mass.,  and  at  Provi- 
dence, R.  T.  At  a  meeting  of  specials,  held  in  the  rooms  of  the 
Boston  Fire  Underwriters1  Union,  Dec.  11,  1882,  a  committee  of 
five  was  appointed  to  perform  the  work.  At  the  same  meeting 
a  committee  was  appointed  to  report  on  the  use  of  naphtha  in 
printing  and  lithograph  establishments.  A  further  step  was 
taken  in  the  adoption  of  a  motion  that  it  was  the  sense  of  the 
meeting  that  rates  should  be  made  for  Lynn,  Mass. 

The  spirit  of  organization  had  been  in  the  air  for  some  time, 
and  at  this  meeting  it  was  suggested  that  every  Monday,  at  11 
A.  M.,  the  special  agents  meet  "for  the  purpose  of  discussing 
subjects  in  which  they  are  interested."  The  meeting  adjourned 
before  any  action  was  taken ;  but  at  a  meeting  held  a  week  later 
the  subject  was  again  brought  up  and  discussed.  As  a  result, 
the  following  was  adopted  : 

Whereas,  the  weekly  meetings  of  the  New  England  special  agents  are 
believed  to  be  of  great  interest  to  those  in  attendance,  as  well  as  of  great 
value  to  the  companies  represented ;  therefore,  resolved,  that  a  committee 


104 

of  five  be  appointed  by  the  chair  to  prepare  some  plan  by  which  these 
informal  meetings  may  be  made  permanent,  and  thereby  secure  a  con- 
tinuance of  benefits  now  being  derived. 

A  committee  was  appointed  for  the  purpose.  This  committee, 
without  delay,  took  the  matter  in  hand  and  reported  two  weeks 
later  recommending  the  organization  of  the  ••  Exchange,"  with 
a  personal  membership  open  to  field  men  only.  No  company 
was  to  be  pledged  to  any  action,  reliance  being  placed  on  the 
honor  of  the  specials  to  secure  their  co-operation. 

The  report  was  received  with  great  favor  and  unanimously 
adopted.  Thirty-six  specials  were  present.  Officers  were 
elected,  U.  C.  Crosby  being  made  president. 

Thus  the  "  Exchange  "  was  organized  and  launched  upon  its 
career.  Its  name  was  changed  soon  afterward  to  the  "New 
England  Insurance  Exchange."  In  the  meantime  the  committee 
on  jewelry  factories  reported  recommending  a  form  of  policy  for 
these  risks,  which  was  afterward  adopted  by  the  companies,  and 
a  committee;  consisting  of  one  special  for  each  agency  at 
Attleboro  was  appointed  to  make  risks  on  factories  in  that  place. 
It  was  deemed  expedient  to  make  no  rates  in  Providence  at 
that  time. 

A  joint  meeting  of  the  Exchange  and  the  local  agents  from 
Lynn,  Mass.,  was  secured,  resulting  in  the  formation  of  a  local 
board  in  that  place  and  the  rating  of  brick  and  wooden  shoe 
factories.  A  local  board  had  also  been  formed  at  Springfield 
and  a  few  rates  established.  Here  some  trouble  was  encountered, 
owing  to  the  refusal  of  the  agents  to  admit  the  Springfield 
F.  &  M.,  on  the  ground  that  its  local  representative  was  on  a 
salary.  The  Exchange  voted  that  the  company  should  be 
admitted  and  gave  the  special  Springfield  committee  full  power 
to  act. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  Exchange  was  held  Jan.  13.  The 
local  committees  already  appointed  and  those  to  be  appointed 
were  then  made  standing.  The  executive  committee  reported  a 
list  of  carefully-prepared  b}r-laws,  most  of  which  are  in  vogue 
today.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  rate  boot  and  shoe  fac- 


305 

tories.  This  action  involved  the  most  extensive  effort  yet  made 
in  the  line  of  rating.  Rates  for  Worcester  county,  Mass.,  New 
Haven,  and  West  Winsted,  Conn.,  were  also  discussed. 

The  Exchange  was  now  fairly  under  way  and  the  development 
of  its  work  was  carried  forward  with  increased  enthusiasm. 
New  members  came  in  rapidly,  committee  work  grew  apace, 
and  local  boards  were  formed  in  various  sections.  So  strong 
was  the  faith  in  the  power  of  the  new  organization  that  as  early 
as  Jan.  27,  1883,  it  was  suggested  that  a  committee  be  appointed 
to  defeat,  by  *«  legitimate  means,"  proposed  valued  policy  legis- 
lation in  Maine.  The  suggestion  was  not  adopted,  however,  and 
a  resolution  asking  companies  to  withdraw  if  the  law  passed  met 
with  the  same  fate.  The  naphtha  hazard,  which  had  been  dis- 
cussed for  a  long  time,  was  disposed  of  by  making  a  charge  for 
its  use.  A  boot  and  shoe  schedule  was  adopted  and  minimum 
rates  placed  on  detached  storehouses  and  contents.  All  this 
occurred  within  the  first  month  of  the  organization. 

The  first  year  of  Exchange  work  was  necessarily  experimental, 
but  an  immense  amount  of  practical  and  permanent  work  was 
accomplished.  The  specials  were  found  willing  and  active,  and 
by  the  close  of  the  year  the  larger  portion  of  New  England  was 
in  the  hands  of  local  committees  and  rated.  During  the  year 
fifty-six  local  boards  were  formed  and  specific  ratings  made  on 
paper  mills,  boot  and  shoe  factories,  straw  shops,  rubber  works, 
summer  hotels,  fertilizer  and  chemical  works,  special  hazards 
about  Boston,  tanneries  and  currying  shops,  cotton  and  woolen 
mills,  and  hat  factories.  The  Exchange  then  numbered  ninety- 
two  members. 

Evidence  of  the  powers  and  facilities  for  good  given  by  the 
organization  was  shown  in  several  cases  where  the  water 
supplies  and  fire  department  of  various  localities  were  deficient. 
This  was  most  strongly  shown  in  the  case  of  Haverhill,  where 
the  persistent  refusal  to  better  the  water  supply  resulted  in  an 
advance  of  forty  cents  in  rates,  which  very  soon  brought  the 
citizens  of  that  place  to  their  senses,  and  the  desired  reforms 
were  secured. 


106 

The  events  of  the  succeeding  years  will  be  gone  over  briefly. 
President  Crosby  was  re-elected  for  a  second  term,  a  distinction 
which  he  well  deserved  for  the  able  manner  in  which  he  had 
served  the  Exchange  during  its  first  year.  The  work  of  this 
year  was  devoted  largely  to  extending  and  perfecting  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Exchange.  More  local  committees  were  appointed, 
more  local  boards  formed,  and  more  rates  made.  Rates  on  boot 
and  shoe  factories  were  increased,  and  as  a  result  this  class  of 
hazard  was  materially  improved.  Adequate  classifications  and 
ratings  were  also  secured  on  cotton  and  woolen  mills,  paper 
mills,  rubber  works,  tanneries,  and  summer  hotels.  Forty- 
three  new  tariff's  were  issued  during  the  year  and  the  number  of 
local  boards  increased  to  99,  the  standing  committees  to  129. 
Throughout  the  rating  of  the  different  classes  and  sections  was 
carried  on  with  diplomacy  and  system,  very  little  friction  being 
encountered.  The  committees  performed  their  work  in  a  spirit 
which  won  the  confidence  and  support  of  local  agents. 

A  matter  which  had  long  troubled  stock  underwriters  in  tnis 
section  assumed  a  more  serious  aspect  this  year,  viz :  the  com- 
petition of  the  factory  mutual  insurance  companies,  which  were 
rapidly  securing  the  cream  of  isolated  and  protected  risks,  which 
the  stock  companies  were  unable,  apparently,  to  retain,  largely 
because  of  ignorance  regarding  the  insurance  cost  of  this  kind  of 
risk.  The  subject  was  made  one  of  considerable  discussion  in 
the  closing  annual  address  of  President  Crosby.  He  reviewed 
the  situation  carefully  and  pointed  out  that  a  systematic  move- 
ment against  the  mutuals  and  an  employment  of  their  own 
weapons  was  the  only  salvation  for  the  stock  companies.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  a  movement  which  finally  resulted  in  the 
present  organized  and  successful  system  of  competition  employed 
in  meeting  the  mutuals. 

Mr.  Crosby  also  drew  attention  to  the  necessity  of  co-insur- 
ance. He  urged  its  adoption,  and  during  the  following  year  it 
was  recommended  by  a  special  committee  but  failed  to  pass. 

George  P.  Field,  who  was  then  in  the  front  ranks  of  New 
England  specials,  succeeded  Mr.  Crosby  as  president.  The  task 


107 

of  rating  had  been  practically  completed  and  routine  work  was 
'the  settled  order.  The  novelty  of  the  situation  having  worn  off 
and  prosperity  and  harmony  having  been  enjoyed  for  two  years, 
trouble  began  to  crop  out  in  various  localities.  Mr.  Field  fore- 
saw this,  and  in  his  inaugural  cautioned  great  wisdom  in  the 
handling  of  questions  of  differences  and  the  avoidance  of  hasty 
legislation.  Although  the  year  was  a  pivotal  one  and  likely  to 
have  resulted  in  serious  disruptions,  extreme  caution  and  fair- 
ness in  considering  all  questions  involving  differences  cemented 
the  Exchange  more  strongly  than  ever,  and  made  its  position  a 
sure  and  permanent  one. 

The  most  important  event  of  the  year  was  the  withdrawal  of 
the  companies  from  New  Hampshire  following  the  enactment  of 
the  valued  policy  bill.  In  this  move  President  Field  proved 
beyond  question  his  ability  as  a  leader.  He  was  well  backed, 
however,  by  the  members  of  the  Exchange.  The  New  Hamp- 
shire compact  is  famous  throughout  the  country,  and  the  rigidity 
with  which  it  was  adhered  to  through  the  five  years  of  its  ex- 
istence is  commonly  looked  upon  as  an  evidence  of  the  great 
ability  manifested  in  this  section  to  stand  firmly  and  unitedly  on 
an  issue  involving  general  principles. 

At  the  close  of  this  year  the  Exchange  had  extended  its  juris- 
diction to  all  possible  territory  in  New  England.  During  the 
year  special  committees  on  "  gasolene  and  kerosene  heating  and 
lighting"  and  ««  electric  lights"  were  appointed,  and  both  per- 
formed active  work  in  supervising  the  hazard  supposed  to  exist 
in  this  connection.  Much  was  done  toward  improving  the  fire 
department  and  water  supply  facilities  of  various  towns.  Legis- 
lation on  the  division  of  commissions  was  passed  and  bore  good 
results. 

Mr.  Field  declined  re-election  for  a  second  term,  owing  to  his 
appointment  as  manager  of  the  Royal,  and  George  W.  Taylor 
was  unanimously  elected  his  successor.  Rates  having  now  been 
firmly  established,  committee  work  consisted  largely  in  re- 
inspecting  and  re-rating,  owing  to  the  great  number  of  improve- 
ments made  in  risks  under  the  healthy  influenpe  of  established 


108 

rates.  Particular  attention  was  given  special  hazards  and  the 
question  of  mutual  competition.  As  a  result,  one  of  the  most 
important  moves  since  the  organization  of  the  Exchange  took 
place,  viz.:  the  appointment  of  the  now  well-known  "factory 
improvement  committee/'  whose  duties  were  to  investigate  and 
pass  upon  automatic  sprinklers  and  other  protective  devices,  lo 
have  full  charge  of  sprinkled  risks  and  to  make  the  rates 
thereon,  and  to  confer  with  mill  owners  in  order  that  mutual 
competition  might  be  successfully  met. 

During  Mr.  Taylor's  administration  the  Exchange,  realizing 
the  important  part  electricity  was  to  assume  as  a  factor  in  fire 
insurance,  appointed  an  expert  electrician  to  inspect  all  electric 
light  plants  in  New  England.  The  inspector  soon  gained  the 
confidence  and  respect  of  the  electric  light  companies,  who  wel- 
comed the  co-operation  of  the  Exchange  in  the  extension  of  safe 
installation. 

In  his  closing  address  President  Taylor  pointed  out  the  desir- 
ability of  an  insurance  library,  which  had  previously  been 
suggested  bv  Henry  E.  Hess,  and  the  latter,  as  the  successor  of 
Mr.  Taylor,  brought  this  project  into  successful  fruition.  The 
outlining  of  the  plan  of  this  library  was  the  main  suggestion 
contained  in  the  inaugural  of  Mr.  Hess.  During  the  year  it 
was  perfected  through  an  immense  amount  of  hard  work  on  the 
part  of  those  who  labored  to  put  it  through.  It  was  too  plainly 
beneficial,  however,  to  suffer  materially  from  the  obstacles  in 
the  wray.  The  position  it  occupies  today,  the  use  to  which  it  is 
put,  and  its  undoubted  permanency  and  financial  stability  amply 
repays  for  the  efforts  expended  in  placing  it  upon  its  feet. 

During  the  administration  of  Mr.  Hess  an  effort  was  made  to 
secure  united  inspection  by  the  Exchange,  but  the  scheme  failed 
of  adoption,  and  was  later  carried  out  independent  of  the 
Exchange.  The  work  of  the  new  factory  improvement  committee 
progressed  finely,  and  the  effort  to  fairly  meet  mutual  competi- 
tion on  its  own  grounds  proved  a  success  from  the  start.  The 
question  of  co-insurance  was  again  taken  up,  but  nothing  further 
was  done  than  the  granting  of  a  reduction  for  the  three-quarters 


109 

clause  on  buildings  in  one  large  city.  Mr.  Hess  called  attention 
to  the  necessity  of  moving  to  larger  quarters,  owing  to  the 
increase  of  Exchange  work.  He  refused  to  be  a  candidate  for 
re-election,  though  strongly  urged  to  accept. 

Henry  R.  Turner  was  elected  his  successor.  The  permanency 
of  the  Exchange  was  now  secured  beyond  question,  and  Mr. 
Turner  aimed  to  improve  and  solidify  the  organization  rather 
than  to  branch  out  into  any  new  fields.  A  significant  event  was 
the  removal  of  the  Exchange  quarters  to  the  present  location, 
55  Kilby  street.  A  five  years'  lease  was  secured,  thus  showing 
the  faith  of  the  field  men  in  the  permanency  of  their  association. 
Rooms  adjoining  for  the  new  library  were  also  secured  at  the 
same  time.  The  competition  of  dwelling  house  mutuals  was 
a  subject  of  discussion  during  the  year,  but  no  definite  action 
was  taken.  The  results  of  the  year  proved  eminently  satis- 
factory and  much  was  accomplished  in  its  detailed  work. 

The  next  president,  Benjamin  R.  Stillman,  guided  the  Ex- 
change with  a  careful  hand  and  cemented  more  strongly  the  ties 
which  bound  the  special  agents  together.  Although  he  again 
called  attention  to  the  need  of  co-insurance,  no  action  was  taken 
on  the  subject  during  that  year.  The  occupancy  of  the  new 
quarters  proved  highly  beneficial  to  the  Exchange,  in  adding 
facilities  for  performing  its  increasing  work.  On  Mr.  Stillman's 
recommendation  the  constitution  was  amended  to  provide  for 
honorary  membership,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  to  receive  its 
benefits. 

During  this  year  the  New  Hampshire  compact  was  broken. 
This  compact  was  entirely  a  company  affair  but  had  received  the 
firm  moral  support  of  the  Exchange,  and  the  special  agents 
regretted,  almost  to  a  man,  that  it  should  be  nullified.  Some 
who  did  not  realize  the  full  strength  of  the  Exchange  predicted 
dissolution  at  this  time.  It  stood  firm  as  a  rock,  however. 

Under  President  Frank  A.  Colley,  who  followed  Mr.  Stillman, 
the  Exchange  enjoyed  a  quiet  and  prosperous  year.  The  aver- 
age attendance  was  the  largest  to  date.  The  question  of 
dwelling  house  rates  came  to  the  front  and  the  special  committee 


110 

made  an  exhaustive  report  recommending  a  classification  of 
these  risks.  After  much  discussion  the  matter  was  referred  to 
the  executive  committee,  and  it  has  not  since  been  considered. 
A  pleasant  diversion  from  routine  work  was  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  to  collect  funds  for  the  families  of  the  firemen  killed 
in  the  Boston  conflagration  of  November.  As  a  result,  $1,200 
was  secured  for  the  purpose.  The  Electric  Mutual  was  formed 
this  year  by  S.  E.  Barton,  and  competition  on  electric  risks  be- 
came quite  lively.  Through  the  efforts  of  President  Colley  the 
rule  refusing  information  to  the  insurance  press  was  rescinded. 

In  the  election  of  officers  for  1891  an  unusual,  though  entirely 
pleasant,  complication  occurred  in  the  selection  of  president. 
Moses  R.  Emerson  was  first  nominated,  but  positively  declined. 
A.  C.  Adams  then  became  the  popular  candidate,  and  in  spite  of 
his  earnest  protest  was  elected .  He  presented  his  resignation  at 
the  next  meeting  and,  as  he  gave  good  and  sufficient  reasons,  it 
was  accepted.  U.  C.  Crosby  was  then  elected  and  entered  upon 
his  third  term. 

Eor  several  years  the  Exchange  had  been  sailing  in  smooth 
water,  but  conditions  were  changing,  and  it  was  evident  that 
serious  consideration  must  soon  be  given  to  such  important  ques- 
tions as  co-insurance,  commissions,  and  a  revision  of  rates. 
Moreover,  bad  practices  were  cropping  out  in  some  places,  and 
the  paying  of  high  commissions  had  become  a  standing  evil. 
The  increased  fire  waste  also  called  for  action  on  the  question  of 
rates,  and  during  Mr.  Crosby's  administration  the  conviction 
that  an  advance  was  necessary  grew  in  common  with  a  similar 
conviction  throughout  the  country.  It  was  a  preparation  for  the 
large  amount  of  legislation  which  followed  under  President 
Moses  R.  Emerson,  who  was  elected  to  succeed  Mr.  Crosby. 
This  brief  chronological  record  of  the  Exchange  will  be  closed 
with  a  rapid  review  of  the  legislation  of  1892. 

The  drift  in  the  direction  of  higher  rates  assumed  definite 
form  in  December,  1891,  when  a  proposition  was  introduced  to 
advance  rates  25  per  cent,  or  require  a  75  per  cent  co-insurance 
clause.  The  proposition  was  referred  to  a  special  committee, 


Ill 

which  reported  favoring  the  25  per  cent  advance  but  making  the 
90  per  cent  co-insurance  clause  the  alternative.  The  matter 
was  not  discussed  by  the  Exchange  until  the  first  meeting  in 
January,  but  in  the  meantime  a  committee  meeting  of  the  whole 
was  held  and  the  question  thoroughly  talked  over.  It  was  sup- 
posed from  this  that  an  agreement  would  be  easily  reached  when 
the  matter  was  taken  up  in  open  meeting.  It  turned  out,  how- 
ever, that  there  was  much  difference  of  opinion  and  no  action  was 
taken  until  a  special  meeting  held  the  next  week,  when  by 
general  consent  the  co-insurance  question  was  ruled  out  and  a 
committee  of  nine  appointed  to  recommend  advances  in  rates  in 
such  places  and  on  such  classes  as  it  was  deemed  advisable,  this 
course  being  preferable  to  a  general  advance. 

This  committee  carried  out  its  work  expeditiously  but  not  with 
undue  haste.  An  advance  in  Lynn,  Mass.,  was  almost  imme- 
diately recommended  and  adopted.  The  committee  also  recom- 
mended an  advance  of  50  per  cent  on  clothing  stocks  and 
factories,  and  a  reduction  therefrom  of  25  per  cent  if  a  clause 
was  contained  in  the  policy  stipulating  that  no  claim  should  be 
made  for  smoke  damage.  The  committee  thereafter  recommended 
advances  in  Vermont,  and  in  Brockton,  Springfield,  Marlboro, 
Revere,  and  Winthrop,  Mass.  ;  also  on  large  area  risks  ;  also  on 
unprotected  property  and  farm  property  in  Maine.  Revised 
schedules  for  boot  and  shoe  factories  and  morocco  factories  were 
also  put  through. 

In  securing  the  adoption  of  these  advances  by  local  boards 
considerable  opposition  was  encountered,  particularly  on  account 
of  the  clothing  advance  and  that  made  on  unprotected  property. 
So  determined  and  persistent  was  this  opposition  —  though 
many  of  the  objecting  boards  were  persuaded  to  come  into  line 
— that  after  over  six  months'  delay  the  Exchange  voted  to  put 
the  rates  arbitrarily  into  force,  giving  local  committees  discre- 
tion to  waive  the  enforcement  of  advances  if  deemed  expedient. 
This  stand  has  given  rise  to  some  discussion  and  difference  of 
opinion,  but  the  majority  seem  to  be  in  favor  of  exercising  the 
arbitrary  power  to  which  they  claim  the  Exchange  is  entitled. 


112 

The  Exchange  has  always  held  that  it  had  no  right  to  interfere 
with  the  companies  on  the  question  of  commissions,  therefore 
this  matter  did  not  receive  the  attention  it  merited,  but  a  15  per 
cent  compact  was  formed  by  the  companies  independent  of  the 
Exchange,  though  the  latter  afterwards  adopted  a  10  per  cent 
brokerage  rule  and  by  timely  action  assisted  the  Boston  board 
in  clinching  the  question  of  brokerages. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  the  Exchange  followed  the 
Boston  board  in  the  adoption  of  the  80  per  cent  co-insurance 
clause.  The  action  on  this  question  is  too  fresh  in  mind  to 
require  detailed  reference.  It  was  adopted  largely  because  the 
companies  demanded  it  and  were  asking  local  organizations  all 
over  the  country  to  adopt  it.  In  New  England  the  clause  is 
mandatory  on  all  specifically  rated  risks  under  Exchange  juris- 
diction, with  the  exception  of  risks  rated  by  the  factory  improve- 
ment committee  and  the  paper,  pulp,  and  leather-board  com- 
mittee. 

These  are  the  more  important  matters  of  legislation  during 
1892,  though  many  other  significant  changes  were  made,  par- 
ticularly in  remodelling  the  rules  of  the  Exchange.  Altogether 
the  year  proved  probably  the  most  eventful  one  since  organiza- 
tion, and  despite  the  many  obstacles  encountered  it  has  emerged 
better  equipped  for  successful  work  in  the  future,  and  with  a 
larger  realization  of  the  duties  incumbent  upon  the  special  agent 
and  the  organization  of  which  he  is  a  member. 


113 
THE  PEESIDENTS  OP  THE  EXCHANGE, 


Collectively  the  presidents  of  the  New  England  Insurance 
Exchange  represent  the  best  field  men  that  have  been  produced 
in  this  section,  and  though  individually  the  common  traits  of 
character  may  be  few,  each  has  been  peculiarly  qualified  to 
assume  the  position  of  leadership.  The  Exchange  presidency  has 
always  been  regarded  as  a  post  of  great  responsibility,  and  care 
in  selection  invariably  characterizes  elections  for  this  office. 
Strong  men  are  needed  and  strong  men  have  been  secured  in 
every  case. 

U.  C.  Crosby  was  the  first  president  of  the  Exchange,  coming 
into  that  office  as  a  natural  result  of  his  activity  in  bringing 
about  its  organization.  He  is  a  man  of  few  words  but  many 
ideas,  and  probably  takes  a  broader  view  of  the  scope  of  fire 
insurance  than  any  underwriter  in  New  England.  He  believes 
in  meeting  the  assured  more  than  half  way,  and  the  labor  he 
has  expended  in  developing  protected  business  has  contributed 
immeasurably  toward  recovering  the  ground  lost  by  the  stock 
companies  to  their  competitors,  the  factory  mutuals. 

Mr.  Crosby  was  born  in  Mattapoisett,  Mass.,  in  1845,  and  was 
brought  up  at  Bethlehem,  N.  H.  In  1866  he  entered  the  office  of 
the  Bay  State  Insurance  Company  of  Worcester  as  clerk,  and 
three  years  later  was  made  secretary  of  the  company,  which 
office  he  held  until  the  Boston  fire  of  1872,  when  the  company 
suspended  after  paying  90  cents  on  a  dollar.  He  then  became 
special  agent  of  the  Commercial  Union  for  New  England.  He 
remained  with  this  company  for  eleven  years,  the  last  five  of 
which  he  acted  as  its  general  agent.  During  this  period  he  was 
also  for  a  time  secretary  of  the  Shawmut  Insurance  Company  of 
Boston.  He  then  resigned  to  accept  the  special  agency  of  the 
Phenix  of  Brooklyn  for  New  England,  which  position  he  now 
holds. 

He  has  been  three  times  elected  president  of  the  Exchange, 
serving  in  1883,  1884,  and  1891.  He  is  now  chairman  of  the 
factory  improvement  committee,  which  he  has  thoroughly 


114 

organized  and  brought  up  to  a  high  standard  of  efficiency  in 
competing  for  sprinkled  business.  Mr.  Crosby  has  been  inter- 
ested particularly  in  developing  the  social  side  of  the  field  man's 
life  and  has  played  the  host  on  several  memorable  and  success- 
ful occasions. 

George  P.  Field  succeeded  Mr.  Crosby  in  1885.  Mr.  Field  is 
generally  described  as  the  ablest  and  most  popular  underwriter 
in  New  England.  His  popularity  is  not  of  the  kind  that 
depends  on  a  consideration,  but  has  been  fairly  earned.  His 
ability  has  placed  him  among  the  first  underwriters  in  the  land. 
Possessed  of  a  keen  intellect  and  a  large  fund  of  natural  energy, 
his  rise,  since  he  came  into  prominence  as  a  field  man,  has  been 
rapid.  He  is  decidedly  a  man  of  brilliant  attainments,  unusual 
intellectual  capacity,  and  great  personal  magnetism. 

Mr.  Field  was  born  at  Searsmont,  Me.,  Oct.  17,  1844.  He 
acted  as  clerk  in  his  father's  agency  at  Belfast  for  several 
years.  In  1866  he  became  assistant  secretary  of  a  local  company 
at  Bangor  and  later  moved  to  Worcester  and  became  secretary 
of  the  First  National,  the  only  Worcester  company  which  sur- 
vived the  Boston  fire.  In  1873  he  came  to  Boston  as  special 
agent  of  the  Royal,  under  Foster  &  Scull.  Here  he  was  suc- 
cessively made  general  agent  and  superintendent  of  agencies, 
and  finally  a  member  of  the  firm  in  1886.  The  firm  at  present 
is  Scull  &  Field. 

At  the  age  of  20  he  manifested  remarkable  executive  ability, 
when  he  was  appointed  deputy  provost  marshal  during  the 
war  and  handled  a  clerical  force  of  fifty  to  seventy-five  men 
in  drafting  and  enlisting  about  five  thousand  men  a  year.  His 
duties  then  were  arduous  and  required  careful  management,  to 
which  he  proved  amply  equal.  He  was  also  deputy  collector  of 
customs  for  a  time. 

Having  retired  in  his  capacity  as  manager  from  field  work 
during  his  presidency,  he  was  not  eligible  for  the  re-election 
which  would  certainly  have  been  his  under  other  circumstances. 

George  W.  Taylor,  who  was  elected  president  in  1866,  is  a  man 
of  large  abilities,  wide  experience,  and  innumerable  possibili- 


115 

ties,  who  has  voluntarily  sacrificed  certain  advancement  in  one 
direction  to  secure  certain  success  in  another.  He  began  his  field 
work  in  1876,  succeeding  H.  E.  Bowers  as  special  agent  of  the 
North  British  &  Mercantile.  Here  he  remained  for  twelve  years, 
until  he  was  appointed  general  agent  for  New  England  of  the 
London  &  Lancashire.  Jan.  1,  1891,  he  was  advanced  to  the 
position  of  assistant  manager  for  the  United  States  of  the  London 
&  Lancashire  and  removed  to  New  York,  where  a  most  successful 
managerial  career  opened  up  for  him.  He  resigned  his  position 
in  October,  1891,  however,  to  become  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Blake  &  Taylor,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  successful  local 
agencies  in  Boston.  As  a  local  underwriter  he  is  fast  coming  to 
the  front,  demonstrating  that  his  abilities  in  this  direction  are 
equal  to  his  capacities  as  a  manager. 

Henry  E.  Hess  became  president  in  1887,  having  been  but 
three  years  located  in  this  field  when  his  rare  good  judgment  and 
firm,  unswerving  characteristics  marked  him  as  a  man  eminently 
fit  for  leadership.  Mr.  Hess  is  distinctly  individual  in  his  views, 
but  ^thoroughly  consistent  and  logical.  He  is  a  man  of  original 
ideas  and  quick  perceptions  and  is  one  of  the  most  competent 
adjusters  in  this  section.  He  originated  the  plan  of  the  Insurance 
Library  and  to  his  untiring  zeal  in  the  face  of  the  most  discourag- 
ing opposition  is  due  its  present  permanence  and  success.  He  is 
also  credited  with  having  suggested  a  bureau  of  inspection  as 
early  as  November,  1884,  and  was  afterwards  one  of  the  most 
active  in  the  organization  of  the  New  England  Bureau  of  United 
Inspection. 

Mr.  Hess  is  now  41  years  old.  At  the  age  of  16  he  entered 
the  fire  and  life  office  of  Martin,  Hopkins  &  Follett  at  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.,  where  he  developed  an  aptitude  for  fire  insurance. 
At  18  he  went  into  a  mercantile  house  at  Portsmouth,  O.,  but 
returned  to  Columbus,  O.,  at  the  end  of  three  years  and  entered 
his  father's  life  insurance  office.  In  1876  he  moved  to  Scranton, 
Pa.,  and  engaged  variously  in  the  study  of  law,  as  editor 
of  a  daily  newspaper,  and  as  general  insurance  adjuster. 
He  soon  after  became  special  agent  of  the  Merchants'  of  Newark 


116 

for  the  Eastern  states,  and  was  also  two  years  with  Charles  R. 
Knowles  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  as  special  agent  of  the  Royal,  Insur- 
ance Company  of  North  America,  and  Pennsylvania.  In  1884 
he  became  New  England  special  of  the  Connecticut  Fire,  the 
position  he  holds  today. 

Henry  R.  Turner,  who  became  president  in  1888,  is  a  diplomat, 
a  ready  speaker,  and  one  of  the  most  successful  general  agents 
in  this  section.  He  has  always  been  active  in  Exchange  matters 
and  has  contributed  a  large  share  toward  moulding  its  legisla- 
tion. During  the  first  year  of  the  Exchange  he  was  made  chair- 
man of  the  summer  hotel  committee  and  has  retained  the  office 
ever  since.  Naturally  he  is  the  best  posted  man  in  New  England 
on  this  class  of  risks. 

Mr.  Turner  is  a  native  of  Norwich,  Conn.  His  early  insur- 
ance experience  was  with  the  Thames  Insurance  Company  of 
Norwich,  afterwards  in  New  York  with  the  Yonkers  and  New 
York  Fire,  and  later  with  the  Fairfield  Fire  Insurance  Company 
of  Connecticut,  first  as  general  agent  and  afterward  as  secre- 
tary. He  experienced  the  great  Chicago  and  Boston  fires  in  the 
adjustment  of  losses  and  obtained  here  good  groundwork  for  his 
future  career.  He  entered  the  service  of  the  Niagara  in  1880 
and  for  the  past  twelve  years  has  been  its  general  agent  for  New 
England  excepting  Connecticut.  The  general  agency  of  the 
Caledonian  of  Scotland  has  been  recently  given  him  for  this 
territory. 

Mr.  Turner  was  a  prominent  mover  in  the  early  organization 
of  the  Exchange  and  was  secretary  of  the  first  meeting  of  field 
men  called  to  rate  paper  mills.  He  was  chairman  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  in  1886. 

Benjamin  R.  Stillman  assumed  the  presidential  chair  in  1889. 
Being  a  man  of  pronounced  views  and  decided  opinions,  which  he 
always  backs  by  plain  statements  and  sound  argument,  he  is 
universally  liked  and  as  president  of  the  Exchange  enjoyed  wide- 
spread popularity. 

Mr.  Stillman  was  born  at  Adams,  N.  Y.  He  attended  high 
school  at  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  and  while  there  O.  H.  Hastings,  presi- 


117 

dent  of  the  board  of  education  and  a  member  of  the  insurance 
firm  of  Mollison,  Hastings  &  Dowdle,  offered  a  position  in  his 
office  to  the  boy  standing  highest  in  his  examinations.  Mr. 
Stillman  secured  the  position  and  began  his  career  as  an  insur- 
ance man.  In  1872  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Shepard 
&  Stillman.  Soon  after  he  was  appointed  special  agent  of  the 
Watertown  Fire,  and  was  retained  in  a  similar  capacity  by  the 
Sun  Fire  when  that  company  reinsured  the  Watertown.  To  him 
was  assigned  the  difficult  task  of  securing  the  admission  of  the 
Sun  Fire  to  the  Middle  and  Southern  States  without  the  home 
office  statement  of  the  company,  which  had  always  been  required 
of  foreign  companies  up  to  that  time,  a  task  which  he  performed 
with  eminent  success.  In  1884  he  was  appointed  to  succeed  the 
late  W.  T.  Steere  as  general  agent  of  the  Springfield  F.  &  M. 

At  the  close  of  his  presidential  year  Mr.  Stillman  left  the 
insurance  business,  being  induced  by  a  flattering  offer  to  engage 
in  the  gas  business  in  New  York  City.  One  year  was  enough, 
however,  to  show  him  that  the  attachments  and  fascinations 
of  insurance  could  not  be  broken  off,  and  in  February,  1891,  he 
accepted  an  appointment  as  assistant  secretary  of  the  National 
of  Hartford,  where  he  is  now  located  and  working  for  good 
insurance  with  his  old-time  enthusiasm  and  ability. 

Frank  A.  Colley,  who  was  elected  president  in  1890,  is  one  of 
the  ablest,  most  active  and  successful  managing  special  agents 
New  England  has  produced.  He  is  a  man  who  talks  little  but 
does  much  and  consequently  has  moved  steadily  upward  in  his 
insurance  career.  He  was  born  in  Newmarket,  N.  H.,  in  1852. 
In  1867  he  began  his  business  life  with  John  Sise  at  Portsmouth, 
remaining  there  three  years,  when  he  entered  the  office  of 
Foster  &  Cole  of  Boston,  who,  in  addition  to  the  local  agency  of 
several  companies,  had  just  been  appointed  New  England  general 
agents  of  the  Franklin  of  Philadelphia.  After  doing  a  little 
incidental  work  here,  such  as  copying  letters,  delivering  policies, 
etc.,  and  proving  of  little  value  in  that  capacity  he  was 
promoted  to  be  assistant  to  the  clerk  of  the  Franklin  agency 
department,  and  at  the  end  of  two  months  was  made  chief  clerk, 


118 

holding  this  position  until  1880,  when  he  was  appointed  special 
agent  of  the  Union  of  Philadelphia  for  New  England.  After 
building  up  a  splendid  business  for  this  company  he  resigned,  in 
1889,  to  take  the  special  agency  of  the  New  Hampshire.  Two 
years  later  he  was  made  general  agent  of  the  company,  having 
charge  of  its  entire  agency  business,  and  in  the  same  year  stepped 
into  his  present  position  as  agency  superintendent  of  the  London 
&  Lancashire  in  the  New  York  office. 

Mr.  Colley  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Exchange 
and  continually  active  in  its  work,  being  vice-president  for  two 
terms  and  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  for  two  terms. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  whose  recommendation 
the  factory  improvement  committee  was  started. 

Moses  R.  Emerson  is  the  last  in  the  line  of  presidents,  and  has 
just  closed  an  administration  in  which  more  important  legislation 
has  occurred  than  in  any  previous  year.  Mr.  Emerson  is  a  man 
of  liberal  views  who  has  aimed,  by  looking  fairly  on  both  sides 
of  the  shield,  to  reduce  contention  and  differences  to  a  minimum. 
He  is  wholly  impartial,  having  given  his  best  time  and  best 
thought  toward  steering  the  Exchange  bark  clear  of  the  many 
rocks  which  have  appeared  in  its  course.  As  general  agent  of 
a  leading  and  influential  company  he  has  sunk  his  personal  inter- 
ests to  serve  the  highest  interests  of  the  Exchange,  thus  making 
an  ideal  presiding  officer. 

Mr.  Emerson  was  born  at  Newport,  N.  H.,  and  from  1853  to 
1855  was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  Ludlow,  Vt.  He 
then  removed  his  business  to  Claremont,  N.  H.,  where  in  1866 
he  established  an  agency,  representing  the  Home,  Hartford, 
Phoenix  (Conn.),  and  2Etna.  In  1873  he  was  made  special 
agent  of  the  Home  for  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont. 
He  removed  to  Concord  in  1887,  remaining  ten  years,  and  then 
came  to  Boston,  having  been  appointed  New  England  general 
agent  of  the  Home,  which  is  his  present  position.  Prior  to  his 
connection  with  the  insurance  businesss  he  was  bank  commis- 
sioner of  New  Hampshire  for  four  years,  and  a  member  of  the 
legislature  for  two  years. 


119 
THE  SECKETAEIES  OP  THE  EXCHANGE, 


Osborne  Howes,  who  was  the  first  secretary  of  the  Exchange, 
served  in  that  capacity  for  a  short  time  and  was  succeeded  by 
James  Bruerton,  who  also  occupied  that  position  but  temporarily. 
The  former  is  now  secretary  of  the  Boston  board  while  the  latter 
is  district  manager  of  the  German  American  for  Boston  and  one 
of  the  most  respected  underwriters  in  this  city.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded as  secretary  by  Arthur  A.  Clarke,  who  occupied  the  posi- 
tion for  nearly  five  years,  serving  the  Exchange  faithfully  and 
finally  retiring  on  account  of  ill  health .  He  is  now  acting  as  an 
independent  adjuster.  He  was  succeeded  by  Oliver  P.  Clarke, 
who  resigned  after  two  years'  service  to  engage  in  the  electrical 
business,  but  has  since  returned  to  the  field  of  insurance  under 
General  Agent  Emerson  of  the  Home. 

The  present  secretary,  C.  M.  Goddard,  was  appointed  to  the 
position  after  having  served  for  some  time  as  electrical  inspector 
of  the  Exchange.  He  was  born  at  Claremont,  N.  H.,  in  1856, 
and  graduated  from  the  Chandler  School  of  Science  of  Dartmouth 
College  in  1877,  when  he  became  instructor  of  higher  mathe- 
matics and  natural  sciences  at  the  Episcopal  Academy  at 
Cheshire,  Conn.  In  1880  he  became  engaged  in  the  banking 
business  in  New  York,  but  in  1884  removed  to  Plainfield,  N.  J., 
and  entered  the  electrical  business,  where  he  remained  until 
appointed  inspector  of  the  Exchange.  Here  he  rapidly  grasped 
insurance  ideas  and  since  being  appointed  secretary  has  demon- 
strated great  capacity,  having  thoroughly  systematized  the 
immense  detail  work  of  the  Exchange.  In  addition,  his  practical 
knowledge  as  an  electrician  has  proved  of  great  value  to  the  Ex- 
change. He  was  a  leader  in  the  recent  effort  to  perfect  rules 
regarding  electric  installation. 


HG^  37-53 


